The Crescent starts off the new year with ‘Swive’, an interesting take on the 44-year reign of Queen Elizabeth I, by Ella Hickson – a writer known for her unconventional and challenging texts.
This play is no exception with even the title offering up the question: “The Virgin Queen; was she -or wasn’t she?” as ‘Swive’ is an acronym for sexual intercourse.
Michael Barry’s simple and stylish set design transforms the Ron Barber Studio at the Crescent Theatre into a candlelit, wooden-floored space where theatre and history combine in his right-angled version of a traverse auditorium.
Chris Briggs’s lighting complements the concept and adds areas where plot and intrigue lurk in the shadows and time passes unobtrusively.
It is played by a small multi-tasking company of four actors, with costume and wig changes often happening in front of us.
Stewart Snape’s ‘frocks’ are glorious down to the last detail and the modern ‘Peaky Blinders’ style soundtrack from Andrew Cowie and Kevin Middleton works perfectly.
Jess Shannon’s direction hooks us in and guides us through the complexities of Hickson’s script with some very moving moments. There are some parts though, where the pace drops and opportunities are lost.
Alex Crutchley who plays the young Princess Elizabeth as well as Katherine Grey and two other smaller parts is a bright new talent in the Crescent company stable. She sparkles as a seductress and captures the fear when her life is threatened.
Elliott McDowell seizes the Machiavellian side of William Cecil as well as the politician. He makes the perfect foil for Queen Elizabeth once she is on the throne.
Richard Shaw is a newcomer to the Crescent and so it appears the stage. To be honest, he doesn’t quite manage the rakishness required of either Thomas Seymour and Robert Dudley, though he looks the part. At the moment, he is too one-dimensional as an actor, but give him a few more roles under his belt and I’m sure he can bring out the Johnny Depp hiding in him somewhere.
Like Elizabeth Tudor was born to rule, so it seems was Liz Plumpton born to play her. She is triumphant in her portrayal, totally convincing and worth your ticket money on her own. The 90-minute one-act show time passes very quickly when Plumpton commands the stage.
Swive is not without its flaws, but overall it has a great deal going for it and this new take on Elizabeth I’s time on the throne is a plucky outing.
Swive runs at Birmingham’s Crescent Theatre until Friday, January 23. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
