Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe
I was unable to attend ‘Dogs on the Metro’ by Emilie Robson on press night so I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to go along to Live Theatre, Newcastle to see it this evening. It is a pleasure to be back in this fantastic venue again; it has been too long in coming. A warm welcome is always on offer at Live Theatre with a vibrant and well lit bar area offering all the refreshments you would expect. The auditorium is surprisingly well kitted out with some amazing and unusual lighting points which were used to great effect and in ingenious ways to bring this story of adolescent love, coming of age, and the Tyne and Wear Metro to life.
If you are going along to enjoy a comfortable ride through the various stations, or indeed a linear storyline, then you may wish to check your tickets. This is not a production where you can sit back and let the story pan out. It takes some thought. First of all and to coin Dr Who showrunner Russel T Davies it is a lot ‘Timey-Wimey.’ What you are told will come back at you time and time again as the jigsaw of Robson’s ingenious script is deftly slotted into place.
The story concerns, Jen (Sarah Balfour) and Dean (Dean Logan) who meet on the metro and continue to travel regularly going nowhere in particular for recreation and simply as something to do. The journeys are in fact a metaphor for their own relationship as there are several stops which are pertinent and occasionally devastating to their growing infatuation with each other.
As clever as the story is, much applause must go to these two young performers who grapple with changes in age, attitude and an incredibly but necessarily repetitive script with great skill. The characters are likeable from the outset and the audience warms to them both from the start of the journey to the thought provoking end. Audience members were on their feet as they took their final bow which was richly deserved after a breath-taking and absorbing 70 minutes of unrelenting theatre.
The set is unmistakeably a metro carriage complete with handrails and seats. It is very effective and offers the performers the opportunity to sit in a variety of arrangements depending on their mood as the story progresses. The language used by the young characters is colloquial, colourful and charming all at once at times.
The direction by Maria Crocker is superb and the cast really have to be on their mettle to keep up with the unrelenting pace of the story which flits and flutters between all stations and time periods from their first dalliance to the final meeting several years later.
There are visits to the airport and a cheeky Greggs, there is a lot of people watching – a guilty pleasure of many a metro passenger. There is also the occasional coat wearing dog to pass the time as the train travels from South Shields to Newcastle Airport and back. There are parties to visit, school proms to attend and Dean has a memorable dust up with a suitor who is unexpectedly adept at martial arts. This story does not shy away from some weighty topics about which the audience is rightly warned before the show begins. It is in the exploration of these that Robson, winner of the inaugural North East Playwriting Award, shows a deft and delicate touch which really hits home but she never seems to preach. The audience is allowed to watch and inwardly digest before making their own minds up about the gravity of the events which unfold.
Dogs on the Metro is not an easy watch. It will make you think and it will make you laugh. It is what theatre is all about.
Dogs on the Metro runs at Live Theatre, Newcastle until 17th May.