Ricochet Theatre bring Elegies, their double bill of monologues, on a short tour supported by The York Performance Award to share new works from young creatives that explore two very different tales of grief.  Founded by former students of the University of York, Ricochet Theatre pride themselves in providing a platform for thought provoking and daring new works to be shared across the UK.

The first of the two monologues featured in Elegies is Intricate Rituals.  This quirky dark comedy is written by Seth Douglas, who has constructed the piece to combine the perfect amounts of emotion, humour and dark intensity.  Intricate Rituals explores Siken’s journey with grief as it takes her down a dark and unnatural path following a sudden tragedy in her life.  Douglas has taken a different approach to writing about grief which is refreshing, even if the story of Siken has an unnerving edge to it, as it highlights how some people use more unconventional methods of coping with their grief.  This monologue also delves into the topics of queer longing and guilt, which combined contribute to Siken’s downward spiral and decision to turn to necromancy.  The whole piece has been excellently well structured by Douglas as the plot comes full circle with the jokes that were being made at the beginning for the audience to discover their true darker meaning by the end.

Direction comes from Ricochet Theatre’s Artistic Director Ella McKeown who has really considered Douglas’ script and has leaned into the theme of necromancy with their decisions for the scenography for Intricate Rituals.  The stage is surrounded by a mass of books of Wiccan spells and rituals, which supports the ideal that Siken exhausts every possibility to find a spell to combat her grief and guilt.  A cleverly creative aspect of scenery implemented by McKeown is the use of projection and a shadow screen, which really adds another dimension to the performance and enhances the dark, unnerving ambience of the piece.  Maria Cook plays the part of Siken and does a truly wonderful job as her comedic timing and intensity complements Douglas’ writing and McKeown’s direction, and she shows the transition of rebellious student to desperate grieving lover splendidly.

The second instalment in the double bill is Logan Jones’ The Same Rain That Falls On Me.  Jones’ monologue has been delicately written to balance wit and humour with pathos and sincerity to create this powerfully emotive piece.  Student Alice abruptly returns home from university and tries to find a source of hope when facing uncertainty.  Alice is a relatable character in that her family relationships aren’t without issues, but her story shows that the power of grief can bring people closer together despite their differences.  Jones’ use of humour certainly isn’t out of place in such a sensitive piece but in fact, makes it feel more honest and raw and builds a stronger audience connection as there are many people who attempt to use humour to soften the blow of tragedy in their own lives.

This time around, Ella McKeown stars in The Same Rain That Falls On Me as Alice and the piece is directed by Jay Seldon, Ricochet Theatre’s Production Manager.  Seldon has gone for a very stripped back approach to staging, as it’s just McKeown with a single chair occupying the performance space, which by doing so puts more of a focus on the actor and the raw emotion of the monologue.  Performing in such an empty space can be really daunting and exposing, but McKeown appears to handle it with ease and really loses herself in Alice’s story to give a captivating and moving performance.

A double bill of monologues detailing two very different experiences with grief, Elegies is superbly breathtaking and Ricochet Theatre have deftly chosen to put together and produce Intricate Rituals and The Same Rain That Falls On Me.  These two monologues by Seth Douglas and Logan Jones are exquisite and poignant in their own right, but performed back to back in the same production, they uplift each other and allow audiences to question their preconceptions about grief after viewing two very different ways of coping with loss.  Such a successful production leaves us waiting in anticipation to see what comes next from Ricochet Theatre and these young talented playwrights.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Jess Dalloway