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

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Luce at Southwark Playhouse

Luce at Southwark Playhouse | Theatre review
14 March 2016
Dominique Perrett
Avatar
Dominique Perrett
14 March 2016

Do we ever really know our children? JC Lee addresses this question with some alarming answers in Luce. His gripping, intense and tightly-knit play explores the possibility of home-grown terrorism and living up to imagined perfection. 

Luce (Martins Imhangbe) was raised in an undisclosed war-torn African country, and then adopted by a straight-edge, white American couple at the age of seven. He is now 17 and his finding his stride as an honours student, star of the football team and an apparently morally upstanding citizen. When Luce’s attentive mother, Amy (Mel Geidroyc), is called into school by Luce’s teacher Mrs Carter it is revealed that Luce has written a pro-violence account of a right-wing terrorist and is in possession of illegal fireworks. A dismayed Amy dances around the topic when confronting her high-achieving son, which leads to a string of small deceptions.

Director Simon Dormandy explains he was drawn to the play because it explores the pressure placed on high-achieving young men, and his direction combined with the skilled performances from the small cast shed light on the importance of words on impressionable young adults. The production focuses on what is said vs what is meant, and, in a work that is so reliant on dialogue, the actors have to deliver with subtlety and precision.

Mel Giedroyc, best known for her amusing baking puns, assumes the guise of concerned mother with perfect comic timing and thoughtful choices. Martins Imhangbe gives a striking performance as Luce, and not just because of his considerable height and strapping stance. The pair offer very real conversation between mother and son, and evoke both compassion and suspicion. Natasha Gordon as Mrs Carter adds frustration and terror to the mix as her interactions with the self-righteous Luce contribute a chilling perspective. Lee, as a writer for popular television shows such as Girls and How to Get Away with Murder, knows how to keep the audience guessing. Is Luce a terrorist in waiting or just too clever for his own good?

★★★★★
 

Dominique Perrett

Luce is on at the Southwark Playhouse from 9th March until 2nd April 2016. Book your tickets here.

 

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher

Mersa Auda
Read More

We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online

★★★★★
Samuel Nicholls
Read More

We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks

Mersa Auda
Read More

Public Domain at Southwark Playhouse

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre: Centre stage for diversity

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

RSC Next Generation: Young Bloods proves Shakespeare is timeless

Brooke Snowe
Read More

An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories

Selina Begum
Read More

A Livestream with David Bedella at Crazy Coqs Online

★★★★★
Regan Harle
Read More

Undercover at Morpheus Show Online

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Dominique Perrett

Luce

★★★★★

Dates

9th March - 2nd April 2016

Price

£20

BUY TICKETS

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories
    Theatre
  • Jeremiah Fraites – Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Persian Lessons
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Lonely the Brave – The Hope List
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • 23 Walks
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher
    Theatre
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Bad Girls: The Musical at Union Theatre | Theatre review
Five essential London exhibitions to visit this Easter