The Awkward Years | The Other Room

Remember back in July when I said I was going to get back into blogging? Yeah, life got busy and that didn't happen. I managed to pick up a full time job (yay) but I work a lot of evening shifts (boo) so I just haven't had a chance to see much theatre sadly. This week however I found myself with a few days off and I knew exactly what I wanted to do - I bought myself a ticket for a new play by Matthew Bulgo, The Awkward Years, which was appearing for an almost two week run at The Other Room theatre.

The Awkward Years is a one-woman play about Lily, a 27-year old woman who seems to be stuck in a cycle of binge drinking and one-night stands, while her friends around her are moving on and the void inside her grows. Lauren O'Leary in the role of Lily is instantly likeable and in the small space of The Other Room we quickly bond with the character. She chats to the audience like we're all her mates and, thanks to her witty asides from the story, we quickly forget that her actions are self-destructive and damaging. We bond with the character of Lily so much in the short 55 minute play that when it all starts going tits-up for her, it feels especially raw. O'Leary made the transition from one-of-the-lads to someone who is emotionally broken and desperate so easily that it snuck up on me, and I found it surprisingly moving.

I found the use of movement, lighting and sound in the production very interesting. Lights flash, sounds crash and O'Leary jolts her body around the small stage to punctuate scene changes. It's jarring and surprises you, keeping the piece snappy and sharp so that the 55 minutes pass very quickly. There were none of the slow moments you sometimes find in solo pieces: although the transitions between scenes clearly separate the story, they keep you in the moment and I didn't find my mind wandering once.

I'm really glad I got chance to see this production and it was a great one to get me back into the Cardiff theatre scene. The Awkward Years is running at The Other Room until the 29th of September and I highly recommend getting tickets soon as they are selling fast.