What's Funny about Oxbow Lakes?, which is written and directed by Tammy Berman, is a hilarious coming of age play about a friendship in the face of adversity. When a group of six year 13 students, along with their teacher and tour guide, are stranded on an Island in Scotland during a storm, they're forced to finally come together and forge strong new, and surprising relationships.
The play has been cleverly framed with the characters recounting the events that took place over the 13 hours of being stranded on the island. Split between the six students, this allows for multiple accounts of the same event, simultaneous plotlines, varied storytelling styles, additional dramatic flair and twists, and endless self-referential jokes. This recounting does occasionally come from unreliable narrators, with other characters filling in missing gaps, but is done in an intelligent and amusing manner. As with young and passionate storytellers, the moments of narration are heavily flavoured with the character's personality and priorities, which allows the audience quickly snapshots ahead of time and hooks the audience.
The cast of eight work well together and their strong friendships are clear to see. Performed as an ensemble piece, each character is given a strong development arc and realistic storylines, which allow for the young cast to explore in depth. Tia Shah (Mr. Atlas) is a calm presence that balances that of the students. Shah is a shy performer but gives Mr. Atlas the emotional depth that has the audience rooting for him. Mathura Surabaskaran (Jenna) delivers a mature performance, navigating the line of internal emotional conflict and bubbly exterior. In a moving conversation with a student, when her own troubles are revealed, Surabaskaran is a wonderful performer and has the audience hanging onto her every word.
Indie Shah (Jesse) has the smallest role but makes an impact with her commitment to the role, going above and beyond to keep her niche interests fresh and amusing each time. Shah is partnered with Tara Pattinson (Jack) as a troublemaker young boy with an attitude problem. Pattinson disappears into the role, and Jack emerges as one of the play's most vivid and well developed characters. Pattinson also shows real potential with the more emotionally mature scenes that reveals Jack's sensitive side.
Rali Vanguelova (Luca) is flamboyant and fun as the theatre kid, always breaking into song (having to quite literally pay the price), and being theatrical in their manner. Vanguelova is an absolute delight to watch with a passionate performance as Luca. Ariane Kaufman (Rachel) delivers a great performance, delegating between being a lackey to popular girl Lyra, a sassy but sensible student, and her own personal struggles to be perfect. It's a nuanced performance that Kaufman nails with ease. Anaya Choudhury (Storm) is brilliant casting and instantly wins the audience with her initially reserved and finally confident performance, echoing her character arc. A wonderfully subtle but strong performance from Choudhury.
The show's stand out performer is Maya Crocombe as Lyra, who shines in every scene and delivers a winning performance throughout. Remarkably talented at showcasing Lyra's multi-layered personality, Crocombe makes the show as good as it is. With much of the story and humour revolving around Lyra, it's a large role that Crocombe performs effortlessly.
The themes that the play chooses to highlight are not only relatable and inspiring but often unappreciated, which makes the play feel even more special. By having multiple characters in different scenarios simultaneously, the play is able to cover a lot of ground and themes efficiently. From a well written coming out story, that is warmly received with love, support and encouragement, to an understanding that life doesn't always go our way and to make the best of it, to letting grief mould your mess into a stronger version of yourself, it's a deeply moving and inspiring story at its core.
However, what sadly lets down the play most is the specificity of the timeline. The show plays with the unreliable and multiple narrator ploy a little too much, losing the tight rein that the show needs to be its best version. A lot happens in the show's one and a half hours, and it gets fairly muddled at parts, which makes it feel much longer. As invested as the audience are with the characters, it's hard to stay focused and following the right plot at the right time, which sadly doesn't allow audiences to appreciate the genius writing and styling of the play.
The play manages to use sound (Hiral Bhudia) and lighting (Charlotte Reese) well, creating a storm that provides a sensory backdrop to the play. With flashes of light and a gentle rain in the background, it's quite immersive in the intimate space. Also amusingly, the lighting design is used to assist with gags, scene changes and dramatic effects.
What's Funny about Oxbow Lakes? is the debut play from the young amateur, but promising, theate company Wavelength Theatre Company. Alongside the cast, crew and director are Amy Reeves (Producer), Imani Kuchibhotla (Assistant Producer) and Charlie Eccles (Stage Manager). The show played at the Theatro Technis on the 17th and 18th of August as part of the Camden Fringe.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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