Currently playing in the disused basement of a print factory off an old council estate in Hoxton, Dirty Market’s Oxbow Lakes is a very strange beast indeed – an odd mixture of reality and fantasy that exposes the dilemma faced by every new parent. How can you continue to maintain your comfortable lifestyle when you’ve taken on the enormous responsibility of raising a child?
The play starts with parents Jack and Jill (Dirty Market’s founders Jon Lee and Georgina Sowerby) sparring in the corridor of their flat as they juggle a busy house party with getting their young son to go to sleep. The audience get a hint of what is to come, as neatly executed shadowplay gives form to the witches and monsters that haunt his dreams…
As the little boy finally drifts off to sleep the audience are magically drawn into a fantastical landscape, and here cast member Benedict Hooper gets to stretch his acting chops (and his quick change skills) as he presents a cavalcade of both hilarious and sinister characters, from handsome prince to wicked witch. In a final twist, for the last act the setting is a forbidden forest where Jack and Jill finally confront their greatest (and literally biggest) fears…
Oxbow Lakes is an artfully executed and very imaginative piece of theatre. Not to give the game away, but audiences will be constantly surprised by the set, which is an absolute tour de force by designers Susan Sowerby, Simon Weller and Bryan Woltjen. All credit it is also due to Oscar Gibbs, the play’s narrator, singer and songwriter who uses short monologues and little songs to separate the scenes, all the while providing accompaniment on children’s toy instruments – surprisingly unnerving!
Oxbow Lakes continues until Saturday 28 September and takes place at 17-20 Parr St in Hoxton at 7:30pm each night. Tickets are an incredibly reasonable £15 (£10 concessions).
Do go along if you can – I absolutely guarantee hand on heart that you won’t regret it. There might even be tears before the end of the final scene – I freely admit that I had a little cry when the truth about what was hidden in the forbidden forest finally dawned…
