Swallowing The Whale Review

India Thomas, Year 1

Photo credits: Abby Swain.

Wow. Just wow. I was invited to watch ‘Swallowing the Whale’ and I jumped at the chance; every play I’ve seen performed by Open Theatre has been incredible. And this play didn’t disappoint: a spectacular exploration of sexuality, raw emotion, and adolescent strife.

Andie Curno was the genius behind ‘Swallowing the Whale’, as both the writer and director. Their writing was poetic, dreamy and filled with passion. They told the story of Marlowe, April and Levi’s adolescent trials and tribulations. Curno’s writing was filled with metaphors and you’d be forgiven for thinking parts of the script were stolen from a Romantic poet (yes, the description is that good). The whole production team was outstanding with Ginny Davis as assistant director, Ellery Turgoose as producer, Amy Cregor as assistant producer, Grace Marsh as shadow director and Shannah Wu as shadow producer. Everything from the props to the stage-style, to the characterisation was perfected and the work done to execute this masterpiece was evident.

Marlowe, our protagonist, is a two-person role played by the wonderful Hannah Whiteway and the brilliant Cam Griffiths. They alternate between speaking, and acting the role of Marlowe, beautifully illustrating the dichotomy between one’s internal and external persona. Lucy Yellow played April, Marlowe’s best friend, and Billy West played Levi – April’s love interest.

The casting was perfect, and I very quickly connected with Marlowe, despite being played by two actors. Griffiths’ and Whiteway’s acting styles complimented each other’s well and the use of similar costumes made them easy to identify. Marlowe’s gender and their relationship with April is unclear, which only helps to illustrate their strife in understanding themselves and those around them. As a queer person myself I thought the LGBTQ+ representation was refreshing and well-executed. Many playwrights fall into the trap of crafting the token queer character entirely around their queerness, but Curno’s portrayal of Marlowe was beautifully three-dimensional.

West’s portrayal of Levi was excellent; whilst I wanted to hate Levi, for tearing April away from Marlowe, his characterisation was endearing and I just couldn’t. Whilst the acting was of a high calibre and flawless throughout, I’d argue Yellow was the true star of the show. April was such a fun carefree character, despite her traumatic history, who I loved in the first act but began to hate as she met Levi and tore Marlowe’s life down before him. Her acting was so entrancing and I felt myself both fall in love with April, but equally despise her, much in the way Marlowe finds themselves conflicted.

The use of props was great, with many symbols: the lollipop, the wine bottle, the cigarette end; the paper mache whale strung from the ceiling. Each of the props were so well thought out and represented each shared memory that April and Marlowe held. At one point, the lollypops are strewn angrily across the stage and the image of disarray and Marlowe’s feeling of being torn apart was so perfectly portrayed. There was also a scene where a river made of silky blue material is trailed across the stage, and Curno’s descriptive imagery alongside the blue material perfectly conjured up Marlowe’s memories in such a magical way. Rather cleverly, small cupboards were dotted at the corners of the stage which both established the homely setting of the play but also served to store props, creating seamless transitions.

If I wanted to pick holes, sometimes some of the sight lines were compromised due to the in-the-round style stage, but it didn’t impair our understanding and because we were sat on bean bags on the floor (note to self: invest in a beanbag) it was easy to shuffle or lean to see better.

Overall, the show was impeccable and I would pay to watch this in the West End, where all the talent here could be spotlighted