If you’re looking for a play with a difference, then this is it: thirty minutes before the curtain goes up, the audience is in control of how the scenes in Spy For Spy will play out. You’d think this would mean that there would be multiple errors, you’d be quite wrong.
The piece shuffles between scenes that depict the (often frenetic and at one point devastatingly emotional) love story between Molly (played by Olive Gray) and high-flying lawyer Sarah (played by Amy Lennox). The scenes include the entirety of their relationship, from its conception at a new years party (for which Molly is a jobbing actress working in a restaurant offering two options of red wine), to beautifully executed final scene. I’m told that there are 270 version of the way the six scenes – bookended by a opening and closing scene that remain the same for all performances – and the night I visited, there had not been two of the same ordering of the scenes. Yet.
Kieron Barry’s writing here is searing, and showcasee a robust queer love story as well as tackling a rather unique concept (which could well have been gimmick-y). It is moving, all-encompassing and sheer brilliance on stage as the audience is let in on the lives of the pivotal characters that centre the plot; we are taken on a journey of seeing their lives unravel, as does the play in a new ordering. The fact that the writing is so special makes this an elevated piece given how great the scenes are performed individually. The challenge of an emotional scene before a happier scene, I predict are the toughest for Amy Lennox’s character. I grinned from ear-to-ear, and had tears in my eyes (in the ‘bedroom’ scene especially). There were times when the heartbreak and emotion , was so incredibly and viscerally realistic; I felt like I was in the room of the two lovers, casually in the corner witnessing every crevice of their relationship bubble to the surface.
Furthermore, Lucy Jane Anderson’s direction – coupled with Beth Jane Green’s pastel set and Holly Ellis’ lovely lighting – really hones in on lifting the text, and the acting choices of both stars in this are beyond their peers. I could have easily watched another ninety minutes of the protagonists’ lives unfurl, and this is a credit to the team effort pulling out all stops to entertain in a small space.
I’d highly recommend this play to anyone seeking an exciting new play, and look forward to more pieces from the creative team for this was transformative and enlighten in equal measures.
Must end 2 July:
https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/spy-for-spy-57989/