Written & Directed by: Phil Ormrod

Reviewer: Jojo Townsend

The Public Reviews Rating:

Lucy and the Hawk expresses the beauty and strife of longing and loneliness in a most considered way. The two characters are trapped in their own isolated worlds; Lucy (Abigail Moffatt) is being hounded by phone calls by a man who insists she is someone else – another woman whom he adores. And in a parallel storyline Elliott, (Tom Walton) becomes obsessed with a bird from which he cannot escape. The stories are separate but contemporaneous and unfold in the same space which serves to reinforce the ideas of isolation yet suggesting that we might not be as alone as we think we are.

Both Walton and Moffatt exude confidence with a great sense of movement which fits well with some clever staging, especially in the phone calls that Lucy receives in the night, a mark of their involvement in co-devising the piece. There are times where Phil Ormrod’s fragmented text effortlessly captures the beauty of being human, but at other times it teeters on the verge of overdoing it. Likewise, the upstairs space at Ovalhouse is intimate and the set, designed by Cecilia Carey, is excitingly sparse, but rather indulgent and arduous set changes threaten to derail the mood.

The sound by Nick Williams is highly evocative – the use of loop pedal is a particular highlight in building the pace of the performance to its climax - but what really brings the performance to life is the foley that the actors create live. The sound effects created by rather ingenious uses for rubber gloves, cardboard, shredded paper, a Pringles tin and all sorts of other delights are funny and interesting. The live foley also ensures that the performance doesn’t become a tag-team of the two performers, as they are just as captivating on the sidelines as they are centre stage.

Runs until 27th October

Tags: Abigail Moffat, Cecilia Carey, London, Lucy and the Hawk, Nick Williams, Ovalhouse, Phil Omrod, Tom Walton