Can’t Kill The Spirit at Waterloo East Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Content warnings – occasional strong language
Can’t Kill the Spirit is the story of Chloe (Lisa Day), who has been held on remand for her part in a climate protest. Chloe is no stranger to protesting, having been involved in Greenham Common, finding her life completely changed whilst she makes some very important personal choices. We enter the theatre at Waterloo East Theatre, the stage consisting of a simple table and chair. The background is dark, and upbeat protest music is playing, composed by Sara Jasmin Page. I’m intrigued and ready to be taken into Chloe’s world and mindset.
We meet Chloe and her husband Mark (Roger Beaumont) in a cell in Hammersmith Police Station. It soon transpires that Chloe has refused bail conditions and found herself on remand until trial. Mark is baffled; why would Chloe refuse fairly cushty conditions? Why does she feel so strongly about this? Most importantly, who is Jan? We also meet Chloe and Mark’s son Joe (Sam Ebner-Landy), a sweet character also partial to a protest.
Can’t Kill the Spirit is set over four scenes, primarily in the cell and one outside of the courtroom, simply set, and the power lies in the script. The message is clear: Chloe feels that the climate emergency is more of a threat now than nuclear weapons were years earlier. However, there are more layers to this, and we do wonder what more is going on. There are references to a death – is Chloe covering for somebody, or was Chloe involved? Why are there clearly strains in her relationship with her daughter Lara? These are questions never answered, which I was slightly disappointed by and would have liked an explanation.
Mark’s character is key to Can’t Kill the Spirit. He gets it. He gets Chloe’s passion… to an extent. We watch on as he borderline pleads with Chloe to agree to the bail restrictions, to agree to back to some normality. We don’t see an explosion of emotion until the end of the show; I would have quite liked to have seen the emotion build up more, increasing the intensity throughout as opposed to things just going ‘pop’. Nevertheless, it’s easy to feel sympathy for Mark, a testament to Roger Beaumont’s performance.
The scenes end by being interrupted by a prison warden knocking on the door, indicating it’s Mark or Joe’s cue to leave. The lights dim to total darkness, broken up by projections against the back wall. We see images from protests of years gone by, up until recent years, where we recognise more modern photographs. This gives an insight into Chloe’s world and mindset; these are the groups Chloe resonates with and wants to be part of.
There has never been a more relevant time to stage Can’t Kill the Spirit, chants and demands echoing the streets of Central London on any given day. There has also not been a more crucial time to protest, whether on Government decisions and cuts, events in the Middle East and beyond. The message is loud and clear - now is the time to be an upstander as opposed to watching on from the sidelines. Can’t Kill the Spirit embodies this message completely, in a very impressive, engaging, and emotive production.
Can’t Kill the Spirit plays at Waterloo East Theatre until 13th July
★★★★
