Review: William Street (Burton Taylor Studio)

I was invited to review William Street at the Burton Taylor Studio by The Fifth Act Company, a student founded theatre company. The performance I saw of William Street was the first of the run.

It was interesting to walk into the studio space and see a different layout to those for recent shows I’ve seen in this venue, one that worked particularly well for this show. The set consisted of a family’s living space which instantly transported us to the 1970s with furniture and props that evoked the time. For the first few moments this could have been any family, and this could have been a fly on the wall drama. But this façade does not last for long.

William Street focusses on this particular family during the time around Bloody Sunday during the troubles in Ireland. Dad Sean O’Shea (Tyler Cowie), is a respected figure in the IRA, who is trying to get his son Ruairi (Tom Martin) to follow in his footsteps, while keeping the rest of his family in line and under his control, something he finds rather frustrating as even his daughter questions his beliefs and motivations, whilst simultaneously meeting protestant Andrew (Campbell Andersen), in secret.

Sean’s wife Patricia (Chloe Downes - who also wrote the play) somehow seems to care for him despite his flaws, or is she just living in fear? This is a question that is never fully answered and this is a good thing, as the writing keeps you guessing. Indeed, the story arc is constructed well, with superb pacing, and somehow in one hour you not only constantly feel the tension building as time progresses, but also the narrative leads you to feel sympathy in the wrong places at times. Brilliant suspenseful writing.

Jane (Esme Anderton) is Ruairi’s sister, and the relationship she has with her dad is also interesting as she is the one person he seems to completely calm down with. The love between them feels real and not completely based on fear despite what is going on all around them, but during this play Jane’s initial vulnerable naivety is taken on a journey as she sees and hears things no young person ever should. Jane is a really useful character as she also asks the “why” questions the audience members may be keen to have answers for. The costumes are also particularly well chosen for this character.

Tyler Cowie, Chloe Downes and Tom Martin (curtain call photo)

But it was Tyler Cowie’s Sean I found my eyes locked onto while he was on stage. There is a authentic portrayal of Sean’s absolute conviction that his beliefs were right and anyone who disagreed with him would suffer.  Sean was terrifying as a human being from a few minutes in, but even more so as the play went on and more of his character traits were revealed. The performance of this was captivating, the skill involved with portraying someone so much older (than the actor), with older children and a huge political backstory, as well as a dubious personality, and making it look effortless is hard to put into words.

Lighting (Eithne Morrison) and sound effects (Alex Glibey) were subtle but very effective, the TV in the corner of the living room and the noise outside during protests and fights created a setting that was so much bigger than what you could see on stage, indeed some of the action was offstage, outside the house, and yet very much a part of the narrative.

William Street is such a satisfying piece to watch as a reviewer. It is clear from the offset that this play has been created through collaboration, the team involved work well together and have developed this production into something hard hitting that makes you think deeply afterwards. The fact it is set in the middle of events that actually happened in fairly recent history really does focus the mind as you watch. The writing is to be applauded, the performances feel authentic and I highly recommend catching this show if you like to feel your thought processes being challenged as a story unfolds in front of you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

William Street is at Burton Taylor Studio until Saturday 23 May and will be at Edinburgh Fringe from 16^th to 21^st August.

If you would like to see more of my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.