Frame Narrative – REVIEW
Image: FRAME NARRATIVE at Old Fitz Theatre. Image: Phil Erbacher
The new crew helming up the Old Fitz Theatre are off to a good start with their current production of playwright Emily Sheehan’s new work Frame Narrative.
A frame narrative is where a story is embedded in another story and Sheehan has taken Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as the literary adaptation around which the actors and the action revolve.
This five hander begins with Angelica( Megan O’Connell) waiting to go to dinner when junior reporter Elsa (Madeline Li) appears at her door.
At first Angelica, who has just finished a movie comeback, does not welcome the intrusion, but soon she softens to Elsa, who is infatuated with Angelica’s career, and grants an interview. She will soon regret this, but thankfully they are interrupted by Hendrik ( Charles Upton) Angelica’s lover.
On the wall, a pistol is housed in a case and the lighting in the apartment begins to fade.
A second thread opens when we are on set with Anna (O’Connell) and Estee (Li) as they are rehearsing takes from Frankenstein with the director (Jennifer Rani).
Quickly a power shift occurs when Anna divulges that all of her best scenes in past films were done under the influence of drink and drugs and now she is feeing threatened by Estee’s rising stardom.
There is much talk of the text, which Estee admits she has not read, mixed in with insider film oeuvre jokes that are accessible to the audience, particularly Gen Z’s.
Here, Rani’s character argues the auteur theory as she tries to gain control of Anna’s performance with such vigour that it leaves Anna in a fragile state.
In the next frame, we discover that the filming was within the rehearsal for the play, when the playwright ( Emma Wright) confronts the director (Upton) about his changes to her script.
Director: It’s boring.
Writer: It’s empowering
Director: They are not mutually exclusive.
By now the play itself takes on the role of the monster, and Upton’s character asks the pregnant and newly married writer if she can cut her own baby.
By the end of Frame Narrative we have gone on a journey across three zones that are all imbued with intrigue and tensions without giving anything away.
There are some potently powerful scenes such as the on-set rivalries between Anna and Estee, and the final scene with the director and the writer, even if it is more than a tad too long.
Director Lucy Clements has done a great job with keeping the commendable cast in motion and tension without blurring their characters.
There is one great moment when all of the actors break the fourth wall, with a dinner table on the stage apron. This draws the audience into the characters’ attempts at reconciliation and intimacy.
O’Connell gives us a multi-faceted performance, especially when she is in a world weary mood as she confronts her own legacy as an actor.
Newcomer, Li shows us that she will be someone to watch as she commands her scenes across these three acts. She is a considerable on-stage presence.
Upton is steadily focussed throughout, and, at the end, has a powerful scene with Wright about what it means to be a creative.
Rani is a strong presence and is particularly impressive as she argues the power of a director while Wright’s entrance a the writer changes the mood entirely and provides a non- cliche ending for the play.
Set designer Soham Apte has done well in designing a single stage set that is adaptable across numerous locations, which lighting designer Spencer Herd handles with great effect. The whole production is underscored by Sam Cheng’s tones that give the production a fullness.
Frame Narrative is an original and brave work that will hopefully set the tone for New Ghosts Theatre’s future.
