Sinisterrr

A young Bridget Jones wannabe called Anna who lives alone with nothing but piles of dirty washing and an unhealthy relationship with Celine Dion, moves to Fetcham.

 Her mother has died and her surprisingly unsympathetic boyfriend has dumped her, meanwhile, unbeknown to Anna, a similarly frustrating battle is taking place in the flat above. John’s involuntary, and arguably vacuous girlfriend, has persuaded him to move to Fetcham in pursuit of a “real job”, whilst all he wants to do is pursue his love for writing.

As both unsettling relationships unfurl, we learn of the frustrating, upsetting, and often-hilarious similarities between Anna and John’s lives. Interestingly, the characters’ parallel lives play out as though in one and the same room, whilst
Anna’s extended monologues, exploring her diminishing desire to embrace life, continue to go unheard by the rest of the characters. Her Job hangs in the balance, she refuses calls from any of her friends, and most worryingly of all she drowns her sorrows in a bottomless cocktail of wine and spirits.

Luckily, such a potentially gloomy story is enriched with hilarious moments of sarcasm from Sinisterrr’s entire cast, particularly the relentlessly dry Anna, played by Gracie Tredget.  The story is also enlivened by its unique approach to production by Director and Writer Alex Critoph. Tellingly, Critoph’s aim was to inject some unexpected emotions in to the audience: “I wanted to provoke catharsis from the audience as they watch Anna struggle with her reality and the memories of her lost mother”.  Criptoph’s honest display of contemporary theatre also integrates a unique audio and set design: much of the dialogue involves the use of megaphones and the stage design features a split scene, where the stage is physically split in half by three panels so that every audience member experiences a different aspect of the production.

The Metal Mouth company, who are all currently studying at the BRIT school of performing arts and technology, originally produced a more limited version of Sinisterrr for The Hen and Chickens theatre in Islington. After listening to feedback from the Camden Fringe they have now managed to transform it into a full-length piece that is unique and challenging but ultimately rewarding. For those people who have an inherent cynicism of the theatre, Metal Mouth are hear to disprove them: “The play becomes something which through the words of the characters subtly relates to everyone. I personally was sick of going to the theatre and it being an uncomfortable, lengthy experience, so a lot is crammed into Sinsiterrr to give it a genuine dynamic," says Critoph.

Perhaps this was the production’s only problem – at just over an hour, it was too short. It would have been interesting to see each of the characters develop more, particularly the relationship between Anna and John. Nonetheless, this is a promising production from such young talent; London should look forward to further shots of shameless energy from this group.

Sinisterr was performed on 8th November at the Cockpit Theatre.
Written, directed and produced by Alex Critoph as part of Metal Mouth theatre
Cast:                                    
Anna - Gracie Tredget        
Hannah - Abi Corbett
John - Ogul-Can Genc         
Ex-Man - Joel MacCormack

Metal Mouth's next show 90's Kid is in development and will open at the end of December. Check www.metalmouththeatre.com for dates and venue.