🎭 The God-Bomb
📍 The Hope Theatre, 207 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 1RL
🗓 Friday 2nd February 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️
FRANKENSTEIN FOR A NEW GENERATION
The God-Bomb is the first play from Cried Wolf Productions, written by and starring Jake Bickford and last week I was invited to see the show during its run at The Hope Theatre in London.
The first character we meet is The Scientist. Played by Scott Spencer he has an air of mystery about him as he tells us of the God-Bomb trials of Doctor David Hooper and says we're going to hear his final audio recordings. But are we about to witness a story of horror or inspiration?
We meet David after a tragic accident has resulted in the death of the love of his life Faith. It's unclear whether he is a madman or just full of grief. My conclusion is that he's a mixture of the two! It transpires he has been working on a machine - The God-Bomb and after casually grave robbing he successfully reanimates his beloved Faith.
This story is well written and really questions the morality of its subject matter. David's emotions are almost blinding the science as all he his thinking about is getting back what he has lost.
As Faith is reanimated she is disorientated and moves clumsily, like a baby deer taking its first steps. Nichaela Farrell as Faith gave a beautifully realistic performance and really expressed the confusion her character has in the initial stages. Refering to her self as 'a literal zombie' and 'the corpse bride' Farrell for me gave the strongest performance of the three and I especially enjoyed her final emotional monologue.
The story has an interesting arc as we increasingly see how David has actually sacrificed himself to save Faith, and she is now not the same person he loved before. She embraces her second chance and begins to display questionable morals herself when she drugs David and inisiates a threesome with his best friend Cain!
Bickford gives a wonderful performance as David and we see him struggling with his own health as he has given his entire being to bringing Faith back. As the story progresses we see him gradually lose control alongside his sanity as he physically and mentally falls apart.
Spencer also gives a strong performance as his two characters and even though we see him less than the others he is an integral part of the story.
There are some quite dark moments in this play which delves into morality, religion and much more as it winds its way to an interesting conclusion.
Overall this is a positive review, with both strong acting and writing so you may be confused by the three star rating. I decided to give it three rather than four because as much as I enjoyed it, I kept thinking that something was missing. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it was but I wanted more.
I also felt no emotional connection to the characters which I would have expected to, especially as this was performed in an intimate setting.
That being said, this is a good piece of theatre and deserves to be supported and I'm sure there is a succesful future for both it and for Bickford as a writer.
Neill Kovacic-Clarke
All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one reviewer.
My ticket for this performance of The God-Bomb was gifted by Cried Wolf Productions who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.
CAST:
Jake Bickford as David; Nichaela Farrell as Faith; Scott Spencer as Cain / The Scientist
RUNNING TIME (approx):
1 hour, with no interval
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Domestic abuse; Sexual abuse; Self harm; Strobe lighting; Loud noises