Canary ~ [Network Theatre] ~ Review

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I love a good untold story. As human beings one of the things most important to us is knowing that we matter. What is our purpose? Where is our meaning? Our lives are but a dot in the universe, one tap of a brush on a pointillist painting which spans a million miles. We exist for a brief sneeze in time and, beyond that, well….? Well, we have memory. Legacy. Which is why story telling is crucial to our survival as a civilised race of creatures. History, global or personal, acts as both a blueprint and a cautionary tale. Untold stories bring new lessons, but most miraculously they bring human souls back from the dead, they give voice to unsung heroes, and where better can those voices echo throughout a room of those eager to hear them than in a theatre?

Canary is a play which gives a stage to the thousands of forgotten women who worked in terrible conditions and risked their lives making munitions during the First World War, munitions which were crucial to the success of the Allies victory against enemy forces. They were called the Munitionettes, and if you’ve never heard of them before don’t worry, not many have. By far the most dangerous stage of the munitions making process was the handling of the TNT and cordite, and the women brave enough to take on this perilous job were known as The Canary Girls, skin tinged yellow by the toxic chemicals they worked with every day. Focusing on the lives of three such women Canary sheds a light on what life was like both inside the factory and in general for these particular Munitionettes.

Agnes, Betty, and Anne are the heroes of this tale, Agnes is a bold and ballsy mother of five, young Betty is a loveable though somewhat ditzy and naïve girl with a passion for football, and Anne is rich, well-meaning, and looking for a useful way to spend her time while her husband is away at war. Between them they make a fantastic though somewhat unlikely team. Canary opens with a projection of a short wartime style documentary about the Munitionettes which sets the scene and throws us straight into wartime Britain, and once the projection is finished the voiceover continues, introducing us to our three heroines and the actual process of the making of the bombs. It’s a clever device and relieves the characters of any need to provide exposition, meaning we get to dive right into their personal stories, it also frees them up to give some incredibly well put together physical theatre performances which persist throughout the rest of the play.

Every element of this show is well thought out, well constructed, and created with love and care. Katie Tranter, Robyn Hambrook, and Alys North, who play Agnes, Anne, and Betty respectively, give it their absolute all and provide performances which are bold, dynamic, and really pack a punch. There’s a strong clowning element, with well timed and tight comedic delivery and slapstick elements throughout - these juxtapose wonderfully with the serious and tragic subject matter. The characters are fiery, believable and immensely likable, and the relationships between them feel genuine. There’s a delightful chaotic energy to this piece, it’s bold, heartfelt, daring and powerful.

The sound and lighting design of Canary work in perfect harmony with the physical and emotional performances of the actors to create a truly incredible piece of theatre in its own right. Coupled with the intention behind the piece, breathing life into a story the telling of which is long overdue, Canary is an absolute dynamite production. It has a real ‘girl power’ vibe and is poignant and, in many ways, still very relevant today. Not only is it gripping – I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish – but it’s also very moving. The script is full of humour and heartache, but most of all there’s an incredible sense of camaraderie which it’s impossible not to find uplifting. Canary is a fascinating insight into something I only had a very vague awareness of before and I truly believe that those involved with this production have created something which has really done our girls proud. Canary is an anarchic feminist triumph.

So here they are, the defiant voices of a forgotten home front battalion, and boy can these canaries sing!


CANARY

Created by: Fun in the Oven Theatre
Performed by: Robyn Hambrook, Alys North and Katie Tranter
Directed by: Andrea Jimenez and Noemi Fernandez

@Fun_InThe_Oven

★ ★ ★ ★ ★