REVIEW: SAVED, BY EDWARD BOND
Plan D Productions And Thea453
Sunday, June 25 — Allen Hall Theatre
Renowned for its shock value, Edward Bond’s bleak portrait of working class lives in 1960s Britain, Saved, still has much to say about poverty and alienation today.
Plan D Productions’ staging of Saved, a major component of director Andrew McKenzie’s Thea453 studies, is a bold and moving call to action on deprivation.
The play follows the dreary, pointless lives of a struggling South London community, centred around sort-of couple Pam and Len, Pam’s unhappy parents, local ne’er-do-well Fred and his awful mates.
As Pam and Len, Miriam Noonan and Simon Anderson anchor a strong and committed cast, with Richard Huber and Clare Adams equally superb as Pam’s alternately silent and argumentative parents Harry and Mary.
Daniel McClymont is excellent as cool and selfish bad-boy Fred, and his god-awful mates are played with suitable verve and nastiness by Emanuel Nolden, Cullan Rolton, Conor Hill, and Thomas Downing, with Tabitha Littlejohn just right as slutty Liz.
The Allen Hall staging has the audience seated in traverse, with lighting by Martyn Roberts and authentic-looking 1960s costumes and props helping to bring the era to life.
Saved can be a challenging play, but in the expert hands of Plan D’s McKenzie and production manager Jo Harford, its staging is sensitively done and powerfully performed.
Saved continues at Allen Hall from tonight until Sunday.
Review by Brenda Harwood
