Wolves Are Coming For You is a complex piece of work dressed up in a series of simple sketches that try to tell a story but, for me, led to more confusion, writes Michael Holland.
On entering the theatre a low-key set, with some excellent lighting by Ben Jacobs, depicted the local woods, a church, a school, a farm, and the village hall. A soundtrack of birdsong and pastoral music kept the audience calm as they settled into their seats until Brigid Lohrey and Grace Cookey-Gam strode out to introduce us to all the characters in the village that they would be playing. And there was a lot that we came to recognise by a change of voice, stance or prop. Not always easy.
We soon learnt that old Mrs Lewis at the farm had seen a wolf and her lambs were in danger, and in the small community the news spread like wildfire through woods. Before long children were seeing wolves, though conveniently just before they had to be in school to take exams.
The vicar’s wife had her suspicions about this ‘wolf’, as did Mrs Lewis’s daughter. Others, however, believed the gossip about certain people buying the wolves online to release into the area so began living in fear for their children and themselves.
In the 24 hours that the action takes place Joel Horwood’s play leads us through substance abuse, domestic abuse, mental health issues, problems of ageing and loneliness, vandalism, questions of faith, and the breakdown of relationships. And like a whodunit, suspects were thrown up for us to wonder what their little game was, and their motives.
When a girl went missing, pets were found ravaged and howling wolves could be heard in the vicinity. PC Harry, the cowardly cop, called everyone to the village hall to interrupt the weekly line-dancing class that had carried on completely unaware of the peril about to be wreaked upon the community. ‘Yeeeaaahhh!’ yelled one farmer negotiating a boot-scooting boogie as his petrified neighbours arrived with terror in their eyes. But not all the villagers could be accounted for…
There was more howling outside. A gunshot. A toilet window crashes in and nobody wants to venture into the Gents to investigate. By now I was thinking this was a werewolf story.
And do you know what, it might have been because at the end I wasn’t sure if Wolves Are Coming For You was horror or allegory. Was it a village coming to terms with each other and all its component faults? Or was it a tale portraying the dangers of small-town gossip and mass hysteria?
Brigid Lohrey and Grace Cookey-Gam threw themselves wholeheartedly into all their characters, bringing humour and pathos, but on the whole, the play lacked the rollercoastering needed to add excitement. I would have liked to have seen the sinister characters more sinister, and the scares scarier. Perhaps I just wanted a werewolf.
In the end, I’m sure my conclusion was not the one hoped for by the writer who was exploring ‘how much wild we’re comfortable with’, but there was still much to be enjoyed in Wolves Are Coming For You.
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH until 17th July. Time: 7.30pm. Admission: £16, £14. Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk or 0333 666 3366 (£1.80 fee for phone bookings)
Photos: Davor @ The Ocular Creative