Photo credit:Chris Payne
Written by Eve Steele
Directed by Sarah Frankcom
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Work It Out shines a light on the week to week experience of a disparate group of vulnerable individuals as they start to form bonds within a dance fitness class they have been prescribed at their local Community Centre. The naturalistic setting and the format of weekly sessions allows writer Eve Steele to deftly explore the journeys that each of her characters experience as they attempt to change their lives. It also gives Steele a perfect platform for an unashamedly polemic rant about a broken Britain where the most vulnerable in the population are increasingly isolated and unsupported. This could be a hard hitting, grim litany of despair but instead Steele imbues her characters with sufficient warmth and humour to ensure there is also a sense of hope as her characters re-engage with a love of life and all its possibilities.
The motley crew are all dealing with their own demons. Pensioner and Grandma Marie is both feisty and vulnerable with her anxieties masked by brusqueness and antipathy. Eithne Brown embodies this elderly hoarder with compassion and humour as she gradually opens up to the group and starts to regain some confidence. Raffie Julien plays her deaf granddaughter who having fallen out of love with music and dance has retreated to a world where her primary social engagement is with her phone. This is a beautiful performance and Julien shines as the prickly young woman who starts to regain joy and freedom in dance as she also makes new friends. The use of BSL throughout the production is seamlessly blended and works especially well within the fluid choreography of the whole production. Compulsive eater Colette initially tries to blend into the nondescript walls but Eva Scott blossoms on the dance floor as she connects with her repressed emotions. Writer Eve Steele is Siobhan, a heroin addict attempting to beat the drugs and the System while trying to get her daughter out of Care. Her character is both frustratingly disruptive in the class yet also acts as a catalyst for change in others that tragically she can sustain for herself. As always Steele is utterly believable as this chaotic and desperate woman who has suffered multiple traumas since childhood.
Photo credit: Chris Payne
The men here are interesting characters who despite their issues seem readily at ease amongst the predominantly female class. Aaron McCusker as Rab is a recovering alcoholic finding solace in acerbic one-liners and reiki. There is a bleak stoicism in his determination to live despite his own child wishing him dead. Dominic Coffey as Shaq has been through the care system and his burgeoning dance skills compete with his tics and stimming. The seemingly perfect class teacher played by Elizabeth Twells unites these characters but is woefully unprepared for the issues that erupt and she soon reveals herself as equally vulnerable and just as in need of a support group.
There is much to like in this production. Jennifer Jackson has done a brilliant job with the movement and choreography which is very impactful especially in scenes such as Coffey’s solo dance to a great version Creep by Radiohead. Katie Scott has created a set that embodies every detail of a down at heel community space. For Eve Steele and Director Sarah Frankcom this has clearly been a labour of love and the naturalistic direction feels like a homage to the wonderful Annie Baker. There are however issues with the overall length of the play and the pacing. The first half feels too long and risks losing its momentum on several occasions and there are occasions where the dialogue is hard to hear during some dance sequences. Overall Work It Out is a well written piece with a big heart. It celebrates the redemptive quality of kindness and the vital importance of community in our increasingly fractured world. It also highlights the hidden tragedy of those who are often better at helping others than knowing how to truly help themselves.
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