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Society today has grown used to seeing the words ‘drugs’ and ‘immigration’ splashed across tabloid pages in sensationalist bold black type. Indeed their mere mention has the power to spark lively debate between people on every side of the political spectrum and from every walk of life. Dirty Kissing pulls the audience beneath the façade of a picturesque provincial costal town to explore the personal and emotive journeys of six individuals whose lives are immersed in these contemporary affairs.
Michael Wicherek successfully portrays the transitory and ‘shaken-up’ nature of today’s Europe and explores individual struggles with new temptations that it thus inevitably creates. The play focuses on two troubled relationships, one between two young people, Abi (Elizabeth Cadwallader) and Ion (Emanual Brierley), and another between Abi and her dad (Sean Kearney). It is not Abi and Ion who are the most intriguing characters here; the audience will become absorbed with the exploration of ‘Dad’, reacting to and engaging with a life that had taken a series of wrong turns, and discovering the motivations of power-hungry Scott (Patrick Molyneaux).
The physical action, dance choreography and rhyming couplets slipped in at moments of intense emotion keep you on your toes with a sense of anticipation throughout
The Box Clever production cast are accompanied live on stage by DJ Virgil Howe, arguably the star of the show and receiving the most enthusiastic show of appreciation as it drew to a close. Howe offers a unique source of opportunity for high energy and pace which is certainly not wasted by movement director Georgina Lamb. The physical action, dance choreography and rhyming couplets slipped in at moments of intense emotion keep you on your toes with a sense of anticipation throughout.
Disappointment lay with the characters of Shaz (Brad Damon) and Abi; light relief in an otherwise emotionally heavy play can be briefly found with one of Shaz’s many quips and one-liners, however he remains a generic cockney drug-pusher throughout. Elizabeth puts on a striking performance as 17-year-old Abi, but unfortunately similarly fails to develop from the stereotypical East London schoolgirl hardened by an under-privileged upbringing that we meet at the start. Despite this, however, Dirty Kissing is recommended as an intimate and experimental exploration of serious contemporary issues.
Dirty Kissing runs at the Theatre Royal, York from 20th – 22nd November. The show begins at 1.30pm and 7.45pm each day; tickets are priced at £10 adults; £5 concessions. Box Office: 01904 623568. Website: www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
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