Last week, Vaulty Towers in Waterloo treated its patrons for another slot of lunchtime theatre. Temporarily Misplaced’s newest outing is an extract from new play, Inspirit, written by Bradley Walker. Inspirit tells the story of a one night stand where Jude brings William back to his place only then for William to be haunted by Michael, Jude’s dead boyfriend of four years.
This is a leap in a very different direction from Temporarily Misplaced’s last production, Care Not, Fear Naught, a drama about Irish woman, Anne Bonny – who left her life to become a pirate in 1801. This new piece is more light-hearted, comical and farcical – but still has heart. An extract can only tell you so much, but this new play could propel Walker and Temporarily Misplaced into fantastic new ventures in theatre and storytelling.
William is uneasy about coming back to Jude’s place that he keeps distracting Jude with questions, quips and tripping over his words in his nervousness. When Jude goes to the bathroom to freshen up, the ghost of Michael comes forward to haunt William but they just end up having a ‘heart-to-heart’. From Michael’s appearance, we learn that he’s been dead for four years, is currently in a ghost school for haunting – leading on to many created fables and rules that come from the afterlife – and still hasn’t been able to get over Jude.
Walker’s writing is sitcom-styled. Many of the laughs come from obvious set-ups and clever quips but it’s found charming through the characters. The direction is minimal in the limited space on the downstairs stage of Vaulty Towers but in a bigger space, the full production wouldn’t need to change much. It’s completely capable of relying on the fun, camp plot to see it through.
All actors are completely competent in the role but it isn’t until Joey Watson-Smith graces the stage as Michael that the play jumps into a more absurdist comedy. Charlie Woodford is a charming Jude and Michael Parker’s freaked-out William is what leads the extract in its first twenty minutes.
I currently wouldn’t rate this production due to only seeing a fraction of the story and seeing it as a ‘work in progress’, but Inspirit is oozing with potential and could easily be an easy, fun and guilty pleasure of fringe season this year.
Review by Tomm Ingram
This new play, written by Bradley Walker (Small Faces, The Catalyst), is a three-hander quirky, dark comedy that explores the difficulty of moving on from deceased loved ones…from the point of view of the departed soul.
‘In Spirit’ has previously been performed at the Drayton Arms London as part of a company fundraiser “A Temporarily Misplaced Scratch Night”. Temporarily Misplaced Productions feels this play is important to be seen not only because of its attempt to open discussion on such a painful yet common subject matter but also as it focally represents gay relationships which is still hard to find in theatre today.
Cast:
Michael: Joel Watson-Smith, Jude: Charlie Woodford, William: Michael Parker
Director – Emily Hutt
Vaulty Towers – Basement Theatre (34 Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London SE1 7RG, UK)
7th and 8th February 2019