Dogfight at the Southwark Playhouse

On Friday the 8th August I headed up to London for the day. I had two plans; take my driving theory test, and to see the first preview of the European premiere of Dogfight - one of my favourite shows! Sadly, I'd never actually seen it before, due to its only prior performances being in America, although the cast recording has been on repeat for at least a year. Needless to say I was incredibly excited for this, although slightly nerve wracked by the prospect of my theory test!

Luckily I passed my driving theory, and with a few hours to kill in the London Bridge area, Mum & I grabbed a quick drink in Costa (their ginger beer is gorgeous!), and headed down to the Hayes indoor shopping area. It backs directly onto the River Thames, right next to the HMS Belfast. It was quite touristy, but lovely & definitely worth a visit. I picked up a book for English & then we walked about a mile down to the Southwark Playhouse.

I'm by no means a theatre critic/professional at all, and I want to make this short, so I will just give you a few of my thoughts on the production!

Personally, I absolutely adored it. I thought the casting was brilliant, down to each ensemble member - you could really see exactly why they had picked each actor. 

It was quite a small performance area, with a cast of around eleven actors. However, this definitely worked in it's favour as it gave the performance a very intimate, personal feel, which made the stark contrast of war very shocking and emotional. The audience on three sides also meant that there was a lot of movement by the actors, which kept it energetic and meant it was very naturalistic. It was an incredibly clever use of space and the choreography especially really enhanced this - it felt like such a big cast and it really conveyed the excitement of these six laddish young marines, heading off to war! The set was very simple but worked effectively, and the pieces, such as a bed, a few chairs and a table enabled layers to be used well to create interest.

I've not gone into the plot in much detail at all as it's pretty easy to find with a quick google, so my parting remark will just be to urge you to go and see this show. Full of emotion, and superbly acted, sung & directed, it's definitely a must-see! 

Dogfight is running until the 13th September at the Southwark Playhouse & tickets can be bought directly from their website. ☺️