Flesh and Bone is a visceral high-octane production from Unpolished Theatre who were formed last year and were awarded the prestigious Pleasance’s Charlie Harthill Special Reserve Fund to help bring projects to the Fringe.
The five-strong company explodes onto the stage to powerfully tell their stories of life, love and the deprivation of living in a high-rise block of flats in east London.
It is passionately written by Elliot Warren who combines Shakespeare’s rhymes with honest gripping cockney accents.
Performed in a series of monologues and short scenes, we are thrust into their stories with such vibrant energy that you become totally immersed.
Terrence, strongly played by Warren, lives with his girlfriend Kelly (Olivia Brady) who works on sex chatlines to get extra cash. They live with their grandfather (Nick T Cross) in a rat-infested council estate that is due to be demolished to make way for gentrification.
Terry’s brother Reiss (Michael Jinks) is gay but is afraid to “come out” and especially tell his brother.
Their neighbour Jamal (Alessandro Babalola) is the hardest man on the block but underneath he has a secret.
The direction by Warren and Brady is spot on bringing out the humour and creating some wonderful moments including a strong slow-motion fight sequence.
When the bulldozers finally arrive to knock down the flats, they all are prepared to stand together to save them
This is a feisty, “in yer face” vital production that leaves you with much to think about.