Since its inception in 2015, the Finalists’ Showcase has celebrated the immense talent of final-year students who have graced various stages in Durham with their performances throughout the years. This year saw the 11th iteration of the showcase, with the seven-strong troupe of Alannah O’Hare, Maariya Khalid, Horatio Holloway, Joachim Price, Charlotte Holliday, Iqra Khadiza, and Harry Threapleton positively dazzling the Assembly Rooms. The actors were excellent across the board, performing at a practically professional level.
The creative and production team deserve their plaudits for crafting such an entertaining evening. Co-directors Felicity Rickard and Abby Greenhalgh deserve commendation for the inventive and perfectly curated set list – a smorgasbord of genres and mediums from Stoppardian absurdism to ‘Les Misérables’ to ‘BoJack Horseman’. Such a wide range of pieces could easily make a showcase feel incohesive or emotionally jarring, yet they flowed seamlessly into one another. My one criticism of most of the performers’ repertoires is that often two of their three pieces were quite similar to one another. While these pieces were undoubtedly selected to play to each actor’s strengths, stretching them to perform something outside their comfort zone would have been an exciting challenge for these intelligent performers. Credit must be given to Executive Coordinator/Producer Sarah Kelly for ensuring the smooth operation of the project as well as Production Manager Rory Collins (assisted by Gemma Parker). For a one-night-only performance, the tech was particularly good, with lighting and sound (sound designed and operated by Andrew Mullins) used liberally throughout to evoke the atmosphere of all the pieces. Praise should also be extended to Deputy Stage Manager Faith Gorton for ensuring the slick transitions between different pieces.
The evening opened with a duologue from ‘Peep’ by Jodie Gray performed by Alannah O’Hare and Maariya Khalid who bounced off one another very well and elicited great bouts of laughter from the get-go. O’Hare’s vacant wide eyes and nasal delivery acted as the perfect foil to Khalid’s sharp, grounded delivery. O’Hare is a simply tremendous comedy actor who used her voice and facial expressions to full effect to evoke laughs at every opportunity, also evident in her monologue from ‘Mayfly’ by Joe White. O’Hare’s final monologue from David Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ posed a major contrast to her other pieces. Her transformation into an abrasive real estate agent swaggering across the stage with an American accent was truly impressive.
Khalid also proved herself to be a very engaging performer in her monologue from ‘Original Death Rabbit’ by Rose Heiney, which was funny, raw and disturbing in equal measure. Her use of the table and props on stage as well as her physicality was effective and served to enhance an already dynamic performance. Vulnerability and dry humour also came to the fore in her organic performance of Edward Albee’s ‘Zoo Story’, which made her dramatic switch in character for her duologue with Harry Threapleton all the more entertaining.
Threapleton and Khalid’s duologue from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ elicited one of the most uproarious audience responses of the night. While this is undoubtedly due in part to their excellent chemistry, it was also the direction and staging of the scene which brilliantly teased out the innuendos in Shakespeare’s writing and physicalised the verbal tug-of-war between the characters. On this note, more classical pieces incorporated into the showcase would have been welcome, but I do see the appeal of centring contemporary texts that an audience is unlikely to be acquainted with.
Threapleton also performed a rendition of the challenging ‘Valjean’s Soliloquy’ from ‘Les Misérables,’ proving himself to be a competent singer with a good belt. At times the backing track overpowered Threapleton but regardless, it was a solid performance that communicated Valjean’s rage effectively. A highlight from Threapleton’s set was in his ‘Half Measures’ monologue from ‘Breaking Bad.’ Threapleton positively transformed into a gruff, jaded police officer simmering with grief both physically and vocally with his flawless American accent. This monologue was jarring to watch and was elevated at times by the use of flashing white floodlights – an excellent lighting design choice.
Another performer to tackle a monologue from television was Horatio Holloway. Holloway showed perhaps the most range between his pieces, all delivered with flair, which must be commended. His ‘Free Churro’ monologue from ‘BoJack Horseman’ was darkly funny and varied in tone such as in the character’s playful impression of his mother. This posed a stark contrast to his monologue from Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ which hilariously featured Price and Threapleton as a pair of moronic cronies listening to Holloway’s existential musings in a South London ‘roadman’ accent. While Holloway’s comedic timing is spot-on, his accent is distractingly inconsistent and detracts from an otherwise strong piece.
Holloway and Iqra Khadiza’s duologue from Cordelia O’Neill’s ‘Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough’ which sees the mismatched pair on an awkward date was a highlight of the evening. The physical and vocal juxtaposition between the two is played to perfection. Holloway perfectly embodied the jittery, prudish posh boy who exclaims ‘Fiddlesticks!’ without a hint of irony. Khadiza equally held her own as the blunt, seemingly self-assured foil to Holloway. There is incredible chemistry between the pair as they move effortlessly from cringe-inducing stilted dialogue to real moments of warmth that manifest in the subtlest of ways.
Khadiza was also magnificent in her monologue from ‘Fibres’ which sees her morph from a supportive, sparky teacher to one that is manic and taunting when provoked by a particularly vicious toddler. Khadiza singling out an audience member in the front row was unsettling and her intense eye contact did not falter once despite the bouts of laughter this elicited. Khadiza also displayed vulnerability in her monologue from Deborah Bruce’s ‘The House They Grew Up In’ in which she beautifully captures the pain and resentment of a sister forced to leave Cambridge University to look after her brother. There were moments when there could have been better vocal projection from Khadiza, but nevertheless her performances were gripping.
There were also some excellent musical performances from Joachim Price and Charlotte Holliday, with beautiful musical accompaniment from Dan Hicks. Price sang ‘If I Didn’t Believe in You’ from ‘The Last 5 Years’ with so much emotional heft that I almost forgot he was singing. He managed to convey tearful rage while maintaining a gorgeous tone which is no mean feat. Price also performed a stream-of-consciousness style monologue from Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Everyman’. Duffy’s non-naturalistic writing could risk sounding insincere, incoherent, or aimless, yet Price finds an emotional throughline to string each thought together fluidly.
Holliday performed ‘Changing My Major’ from ‘Fun Home’ which was absolutely joyous from beginning to end. The staging of the piece was brilliant, especially the opening of Holliday poking her head out of a shawl with wide-eyed wonder before using it throughout to punctuate her superb singing. Holliday was charming and won over the audience in her shifts from excitable to anxious to smitten. She also delivered a highly contrasting monologue from ‘Bronte’ by Polly Teale with poise and emotion. Her duet with Price of ‘Ready Set, Not Yet’ from ‘Beetlejuice’ was a hilariously silly end to the night with dynamic choreography that swept across the stage. While their voices could have perhaps blended better, they were both still spectacular, demonstrating impressive breath control with the many long, wordy phrases throughout. The unexpected cameo from Holloway as the titular Beetlejuice was very funny and a perfect finale to an eclectic evening of performances.
Overall, the Finalists’ Showcase was sensational and a real testament to the abundance of talent within Durham Student Theatre. This may be known as the Finalists’ Showcase, but this is certainly only the beginning for this talented troupe of performers and directors.