Before everything, before The Flea, I’d never been to The Yard Theatre and now I don’t seem to be able to leave. Each piece of work more compelling than the last, each play more adventurous than the one before. But for me, it started with The Flea.
I reviewed this show before, almost in a trance, it was everything I’d been desperate to see and as a theatre maker, made me fall in love with theatre all over again; no easy feat.
From the first beat, it captures you, electric and raging and yet somehow soft enough to tear you apart. Based on the true story of the Cleveland Street Scandal of 1889, where a homosexual brothel was discovered by police and then covered up by the government to protect prominent figures, there’s something haunting and painfully relevant about this production. And yet Lambdog1066 and Naomi Kuyck-Cohen’s design - in itself a gift - lets you know that this world is also a Dali-esque nightmare come to life.
Everything at its extremities, melted, reshaped and wrapped up in glitter.
The design is one of the highlights of this production, it’s a total work of art, an installation in its own right. It requires real skill to create something this striking whilst taking into consideration the practicalities of the performance; a filing cabinet morphs into stairs and then a throne; endowed with a whole new life, this object becomes part of the language of the play. The set and costume compliment the actor’s performance but also challenge their existence in such a daring space.
Watching a play twice is hard, it will always lose a little bit of magic and for me, it lost its ferocity, I didn’t feel the actors were as hungry to tell the story. Whilst you want charisma from your actors, for them to float across the stage, you also want to watch them fight for it, just a little bit. If I was watching this production for the first time, perhaps I wouldn’t even have noticed, but watching an entirely new cast exist in an identically replicated production was at points, jarring for me.
That being said, Breffni Holahan’s Queen Victoria and Tomás Azocar-Nevin’s Bertie were impeccable, each actor born for their role. Twisted, achingly absurd, a feather coated fever dream. For their scene alone, I’d insist people go and see this show. Teetering high above the stage, the two actors are almost suspended, this scene a world away from the one we’ve known for the whole first act and most of the second. But it is this scene that makes an audience giddy because it’s so bizarre, a glimpse into a secret world and arguably, the most honest scene in the play. It goes without saying that James Fritz and Jay Miller are a match made in heaven.
Daring but grounded, kaleidoscopic; the raunchy, racing heart of London theatre.
The Flea is at The Yard Theatre until 30 November. Get your tickets here !
Words: Elizabeth Huskisson
