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The Only Girl in the World
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Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola St, London, E8 2DJ
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Rating:
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- The polite but indelible decay which stains the outside entrance to Arcola Studio II is the perfect lead-in to Alex Clifton’s artful production of Glyn Maxwell’s new verse play. The door swings open and you’re immediately transported to post-Dickensian London, where a buxom redhead loiters behind a suspended window pane like she is waiting a punter, a pint or divine inspiration. Whichever comes first.
In response to the murder of five Ipswich prostitutes in 2006, ‘The Only Girl in the World’ combines live music (from an omnipresent fiddler, Andrew Mathys), video projection and two outstanding central performances from Jennifer Kidd and John Wark to look at its infamous Victorian precursor, the story of Jack the Ripper’s final victim. An Irish woman with a Welsh accent and, when the mood took her, a French pseudonym, Mary Jane Kelly aka Marie Jeanette aka Ginger, is a prostitute and a heavy drinker who moves in with Joe Barnett the very day she meets him, ensnaring the shy, stuttering Billingsgate foreman with a ‘Church of England tongue’ in her tornado-like existence.
In Kidd’s memorable incarnation, Kelly is a highly-strung woman-child who lives fast and loves as fiercely as she attacks. When Joe offers to take her away, she guts him like a fish: ‘To County Cork? To California?’ she mocks. ‘K-K-K, to Kent’ he replies earnestly. Crucially, Maxwell never defines or judges Kelly by her profession; this is a snapshot of a tempestuous love affair, not a morality tale. At times the density of the language obstructs one’s ability to engage with the characters, but a more luminous depiction of society’s dark recesses you’ll rarely find.
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Details
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Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola St, London, E8 2DJ
- 020 7503 1646
- Category: Off-West End
- Times: Mon-Sat 8.15pm
- Price: £15, concs £10, Tue Pay-What-You-Can
- Rail: Dalston Kingsland rail
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5 comments
Wonderful show, my first visit to London, three great actors. Glyn's fine text very nice music. well done again x
Jennifer Kidd is captivating as Mary Kelly. Well worth watching!
Beautiful set, wonderful actors, a fine violionist, wonderful script. Highly recommended! Thank you
Wonderful! Intelligent writing, honest performances and an intimate atmosphere with elegant direction, beautiful lighting and live music, this is London's fringe exactly how it should be.
This is a gorgeous production, maybe a little over-long, but not scared of talking directly to an audience, and demanding that they care about the struggles of people who’ll only ever make the headlines for the wrong reasons. According epic, meticulous, poetic attention to the minutiae of Mary and Joe’s shared life, The Only Girl in the World insists upon the importance of remembering the real people who get lost when public horrors shatter hidden, private lives.