Theatre Review: Operation Greenfield – Battersea Arts Centre ✭✭✭✭

Operation Greenfield

  Battersea Arts Centre

Monday 11th June 2012: One boy, three girls, a competition, Forest Fruit juice, an Elvis cut out, ladders, Christianity and music; the recipe for bedlam or the components of a fantastic performance?

Set in a small town in Middle England, four unlikely teenagers come together showcasing the trials and tribulations they face.

The four, Alice, Molly, Violet and Daniel, portrayed by Shamira Turner, Clare Beresford, Eugenie Pastor and Dominic Conway respectively, are wide-eyed, naive and enthusiastic, giving their all to everything they do and in particular their preparation for the Stokely Annual Talent Competition.

The show starts unexpectedly and at first it is slow and a bit bizarre but as the story develops the amazing mechanics and structure of the performance are realised. The timings are perfect and each actor knows where the others are and what they are doing at every given moment. There are even hints of magic and a number of surprises that make you wonder and laugh.

The stage is full of instruments ranging from drums to the accordion to the flute to the banjo, to name a few, all of which help bring the performance together. Turner, Beresford, Pastor and Conway, the masters behind the instruments, put on a great musical performance and in particular Conway’s ease and ability with stringed instruments shines through.

All four are talented in all the mediums they depict but look out for Turner’s Elvis impersonation, which she delivers brilliantly, for Beresford’s incredible voice and Pastor’s great expressions.

Little bulb theatre is the group behind this captivating show, with Alex Scott, the Artistic Director, as the visionary. It has already reaped success at the Edinburgh Fringe, winning a Herald Angel award.

Operation Greenfield is a must see production, if for nothing else then for the time perfect choreography and astounding musical performances; you will leave the show spellbound.

4 out of 5 stars ✭✭✭✭

Review by Unsa Chaudri


Listings Information 

BAC, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN 

7th to 23rd June at 8pm, (9.45pm, 19th & 23rd) Mon to Sat | 020 7233 2223 | www.bac.org.uk | £15 (£10 concs)

www.littlebulbtheatre.com | www.bac.org.uk | @little_bulb | #OperationGreenfield

Running Time: 80 minutes