A Review of Triple Cheque’s Production of John and Jen

When you enter Oxford Drama there are certain names that you learn quickly, the names that seem like the gods – the ones who are the current ‘big names in OUDS’ that you admire and aspire towards. Over the past two and bit years the list has, of course, changed a lot. And yet… and yet you can still be promised that a performance by the production company Triple Cheque will be excellent. With this impression in mind, I arrived at The Michael Pilch Studio in 8^th week to watch John and Jen hopeful that this would be a good show. I was not disappointed.

The Pilch has seen many seating arrangements this term, many sets and layouts, and yet nothing has been as cosy as its final iteration. With the feel of a child’s room or pillow fort, we were treated to a suspended sheet, pillow and blanket strew chairs scattered about the space and audience members who were as likely to be stuffed animals as people. The theatre is supposed to be an immersive space, we all say this over and over, yet few achieve it in the way that this production managed to. The cast were unafraid to sit beside audience members, to run and walk between the chairs, treating the whole space as fair game for their acting. A cast of only two actors can bring with it a range of challenges, the space easily feeling empty or one actor shining slightly more brightly than the other. For John and Jen, this was very much not the case. Both Eliza Hogermeer and Joe Baszcak displayed so much skill and strength, filling the space with their presence whether acting together or alone. Baszcak’s facial expressions as both characters he portrayed were particularly noteworthy, the age of John always being identifiable. The confidence to screw up your face or throw yourself around the space like a child has always seemed admirable to me and this actor did it perfectly. By contrast, Hogermeer’s character danced through joy and heartbreak towards the pinnacle moment in which the actor tugged at the heartstrings of the audience as tears tracked down her face. There was so much talent on display and the only negative note I have is that in one place Hogermeer’s costume was distorted by the presence of her mic pack.

As much as I would happily continue to dwell upon the two powerful performances we were graced with, it is a team that makes a show of any size possible. Choreographer Esther Carr’s talent was clearly displayed through the way the cast moved around the space, of course complimented by the four musicians led by musical director Dan Savage. The balance was perfectly struck between the volumes, with the cast always being heard (thanks to radio mics) and the music never being sacrificed in favour of the actors. Just as the audience were interacted with, so too did Savage throw in a line during a baseball game. On a practical level, the actors were working as their own stage hands, the props being arranged around the space in little boxes for the most part rather than off stage. During the interval we did have the addition of a gravestone, the presence of which throughout the entire second half added an ominous feel of awareness of the underlaid pain of the scenes. The lighting often reflected the various emotions and moods of the action, but the most iconic part of the lighting was undeniably the fairy lights which lighting designer Tilly Jackson-Long had attached to the rig. Suffice to say, this was a very cleverly designed show that played into the family situation and took advantage of the freedoms that come with a limited number of performers.

As the familiar faces of Oxford Drama look towards their futures and a life beyond the four theatres that we are apt to call home, it is a pleasure to witness the up and coming talent, to know that the younger members of this team show such promise. With haze and soft furnishings, this show set audiences into a cosy environment and then gently drew us into a story of heartbreak that left many a little shellshocked by the time we left. The talented duo worked magic beneath the fairy lights, telling the tale of a second chance, an opportunity to work past the grief of loss and begin to reconstruct a life. With some amazing choreography and singing, talk show scenes alongside emotional interactions, this was a slick and professional piece that exemplified everything that you expect from the talented crew members. What a wonderful way to end the term!