Sheila’s Island at The Little Theatre Leicester Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by LW

The Little Theatre is a small volunteer run theatre in the centre of Leicester. Opposite is a car park and it is surrounded by bars and eateries. The production has been created and hosted by local people with a love for the theatre.

Bonfire night, Sheila, Denise, Julie, and Fay are on an outward-bound team-building weekend. Sheila has been nominated team leader, and, using her cryptic crossword solving skills, has unwittingly stranded her team on an island in the Lake District.

Our protagonists find themselves manufacturing weapons from cable ties and spatulas and create a rescue flag with plastic plates and a toasting fork.

Questions are asked; truths are told; dirty washing is aired. What is Julie’s husband really up to in Aldi?

With a cast of four all entirely different from one another play the middle managers on the trip. Alfi Levy as the leader Sheila I felt really grew in to her role as the story moved on, we saw her slowly fracture as the situation took its toll and as a result was one of the more convincing characters.

Performing as Fay, Kathryn Lenthall gave the best performance, her monologues, beautifully executed and the innocence which her lines were delivered provided us with some moments of humour – leading the group in prayer and in a chorus of Kum Ba Ya amongst them.

Kat Seddon delivered the lines of Julie well though I thought that she could have curried more empathy from the audience and this was missing. This is something that will come as the week progresses and she becomes more comfortable on stage but last night we thought she performed well rather than emulated the person who Julie could have been.

Mary Delahunty as Denise was gifted via the script a magnificent array of lines which should have been delivered with expert timing and had the audience rolling with laughter. Unfortunately she did not deliver these with the diction or the timing needed to bring the humour to this play.

The play is set in a beautiful semi abstract forest. The lower half looking realistic, making use of the abundance of fallen leaves readily available, a fairly rugged landscape of grass and rocks with the trees having been created by using swathes of fabric draped to give the feeling of a canopy of trees. A fabulous set, ably created by Steph Nicholls. The soundscape designed by Stew Wale and Tim Neville runs appropriately throughout, however, we did find it was slightly too loud at times and hindered the ability to hear the dialogue. Andy Crooks has perfectly captured the changing times of the day and the bright lights of the fireworks – I’m consistently impressed by the ability of these volunteers to present to the audience such quality scenery in the small space with minimal budgets.

Allowing for opening night nerves we felt that the play missed the mark slightly, this should be hilarious and moving and at the moment it isn’t quite there. The performers are without doubt talented, and this will be more evident as the week progresses and the nerves dissipate. It has all the makings of a fantastic play, a great script, a talented cast, fantastic set and ably directed by Jane Towers. After the settling period this is definitely one to see, however, don’t leave it too late – there are fewer tickets available for the end of the run!

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Sheila’s Island is on until Saturday 16th November 2024 with tickets priced between £16 and £18.50 with a variety of accessible options available.

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/whats-on/sheilas-island