The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Hiraeth at the Soho

Hiraeth at the Soho | Theatre review
19 March 2015
The editorial unit
Avatar
The editorial unit
19 March 2015

The story of Hiraeth is one that many people can relate to. As jobs in the countryside become scarce and inherited farms are not the future prospect that many young people are looking for, current generations are moving to bigger cities. They leave behind not only the small-town lifestyle, but family, friends and traditions.Hiraeth 5, Ed Fringe 2014, courtesy Jorge Lizalde

In Hiraeth, Buddug James Jones, playing herself, reflects on going through this exact experience. She moved to London, leaving behind West Wales, her parents and the farm that her family ran for five generations. After her arrival in the big smoke, it took her quite a while to settle in to the anonymous city and overcome the initial feeling of loneliness.

Together with Max Mackintosh, Jones has put together some dynamic scenes. While she mostly plays the same character, Mackintosh switches characters not only after each scene, but quite often within them. He slips into the roles of mother, father, grandfather, professor, lover and several more. These fast changes suit the play’s comedic tone and trigger much laughter. During more serious moments, however, Mackintosh’s characters lack sobriety and clarity.

At one point the actors get an audience member to participate on stage. It’s the moment that most of the front row is either dreading or used to after years of “breaking the fourth wall”, the imaginary barrier that separates the stage from the audience. Later, the actors reflect on this by ironically calling their play “very Berlin”. A smart joke about the outdated practice of audience participation does not make it less obsolete. Although the play and its actors are charming with sparkling wit, several techniques seem hindering and worn out.

Audiences do not expect innovation every time they go to the theatre. Hiraeth, although it does not offer many surprises, is a lovingly constructed hour of theatre that offers jokes, wisdom, music and a lot of love.

★★★★★

Katharina Semke
Photos: Jorge Lizalde

Hiraeth is on at Soho Theatre until 21st March 2015, for further information or to book visit here.

Related Itemshiraethsoho theatre

More in Theatre

The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

“When you’re presented with different dilemmas in life, you respond accordingly”: Debbie Kurup on The Cher Show

Mae Trumata
Read More

2:22 A Ghost Story at Criterion Theatre

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

The House of Shades at Almeida Theatre

★★★★★
Csilla Tornallyay
Read More

Grease at Dominion Theatre

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

House of Ife at Bush Theatre

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

Banter Jar at Lion & Unicorn Theatre: “An authentic and timely one-woman show”

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

The editorial unit

Hiraeth

★★★★★

Dates

Ends on 21st March 2015

Price

£12.50-£15

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • The Road Dance
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Innocents
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Amazons launch How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? at Live Nation
    Live music
  • Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Corsage
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • One Fine Morning (Un Beau Matin)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic at the British Museum
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Eo (Hi-Han)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Warpaint at the Roundhouse
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Armageddon Time
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The Heart of Things at Jermyn Street | Theatre review
Wild Card: Casson & Friends at Lilian Bayliss Studio | Dance review