Behind Closed Doors – review

Behind Closed Doors, at the Lion on Stoke Newington Church Street is a collection of six plays written and performed by a group of talented young artists which explore the impact of the economic downturn on different groups in society.

Exploring themes from crime to unemployment, from blame to education, the plays touch on many of the facets of life that the financial crisis has impacted upon, right across society.

All the shorts were afforded equal weighting in terms of time and billing, but, much like the Roman emperors, some are more equal than others. First among these equals was the They May Not Mean To, But They Do.

The play, a short skit based around one jobless art student’s imaginary trial of her mother for failing to push her to learn some practical skills that would get her a job. Sammy Kissin, Fiona Skinner and Kellie Jane Walters were all superb as the crazed student and the two characters she’s bought to life in the head, her doll, leading the mother’s defence, and her dog, ostensibly prosecuting but actually more concerned with scratching his balls and eating cheese.

As strange as that may seem, it made perfect sense, and served as a reminder that, in spite of external influences, each of us is partly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in.

None of the plays were over 20 minutes long, they were all completely digestible. The whole experience was akin to a light dinner, leaving you pleasantly full, not gorged and lethargic at the end. For those of you, like me, who struggle to go more than half an hour without checking your messages or emails, this is actually the perfect way to see theatre.

The Lion itself is a wonderful pub to have a theatre above. The space is large enough to allow all the audience members to sit in relative comfort, and its layout means it lends itself very easily to the two-room staging of most of the shorts.

The room has windows in, which were utilised to full effect by the players. If you happened to have walked past the Lion and been called a ‘Little shit’ or been struck by a rogue flying digestive fear not, it’s all in the name of art.

Behind Closed Doors
The Lion
132 Church Street N16 0JX
Tues 13 and Wed 14 March

Performances start at 7.45pm>
Tickets £6.
Bookings: 07428 052226