Lessons from Teacher x

Having never seen a one-hander before on the stage I really didn’t know what to expect.  Would I get bored?  Would it drag on?  Would one actress be able to keep the audience engaged for 75 mins?  The answers are NO, NO and YES!

Cam is a secondary school teacher leading a double life as an Only Fans model for extra money, but what happens when she moves to countryside to start a new life and meets the man of her dreams…

Barbara Smith was excellent as Cam/Crystal and every other character in between (15 altogether); she kept the audience engaged and emersed for the whole 75 minutes, never dropping a line and switching from character to character, changing accents back and forth and morphing from one persona to the next with ease effortlessly.  Barbara is such a fabulous actress to watch, with so much expression and energy; my eyes never left her during the whole performance.  She really showed her versatility as an actress, providing us with a comedic and dramatic performance.

She used the space really well; for those that don’t know, the studio at the Lighthouse has seating all the way round, and she addressed all sides of the audience, sometimes speaking directly to her spectators which was a nice touch.

The set was colourful with many props which were used throughout the performance.  Great lighting and sound effects enhanced the experience, allowing the audience to really become emersed into Cam/Crystal’s world.

The thought provoking context of this piece around women’s sexuality raises questions around shame and judgement.  The piece was clever, impactful and very gripping.

Congratulations to the director, Rohan Gotobed, and everyone involved in this production; a very thought provoking and interesting play and definitely worth going to see if you can get a ticket with one more performance at the Lighthouse on 16th April.