A production that is not afraid to take risks
Ben Santamaria’s Lulla is a bold new play that plunges the audience into a sometimes scary, sometimes sexy, sometimes strange dream world, writes Melina Block.
After a heated confrontation between teenage Marin (Anna Marks Pryce) and her parents, she drifts off to sleep, where the majority of the show takes place. Essentially a journey of self-discovery, Marin encounters a cast of oddly familiar characters as she tries to embrace her recently-discovered sexuality.
Fellow classmate and object of Marin’s affections, Dolores (Meg Walls), appears throughout the dream, alongside Marin’s unpredictable mother (Madeleine MacMahon) and father (Robin Berry). Walls, MacMahon and Berry embody other roles too, from the enigmatic, glamorous and genderless Lady Nightshade, to the menacing, balaclava-wearing Dollmaker.
Just as one tone is established, it switches. One moment Lady Nightshade is delivering a coy riddle, the next strobe lights are punctuating the threatening advances of the Dollmaker. It’s disorientating and unsettling, but it does help to conjure up the uncanny nature of dreams.
Marks Pryce is committed and intense as the lead, bringing an almost squirming energy to her portrayal of Marin. This is balanced nicely by Walls’ smoother, more laidback acting style. At times, though, the overly-affected gasping and stammering of the actors feels out of place. While the more melodramatic acting choices make sense in the context of the dream setting, some scenes could do with slightly more nuanced performance choices.
Stories about teens navigating their identities are nothing new, but Lulla tries in earnest to present what this looks like for young people that often have their experiences marginalised. Overall, the more experimental choices don’t always pay off, but it is refreshing to see a production that is not afraid to take risks and do something different.
Omnibus Theatre until 10th July.
Booking and full details: https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/whatson/lulla-show
