Tender Napalm

Tender Napalm is a 2011 play by Philip Ridley.[1] Ridley's eighth stageplay for adults, it premiered at The Southwark Playhouse, London on 19 April 2011.[2]

Tender Napalm
Promotional poster of the original production. Vinette Robinson left as 'Woman' and Jack Gordon right as 'Man'.
Written byPhilip Ridley
CharactersMan
Woman
Date premiered19 April 2011
Place premieredSouthwark Playhouse, London
Original languageEnglish

The original production was directed by David Mercatali, who previously directed the professional revival of Ridley's 2004 play Moonfleece in 2010. Since then Mercatali has collaborated with Ridley a number of times in directing the premiere productions for the majority of Ridley's new stageplays.[3]

The production starred Vinette Robinson as Woman and Jack Gordon as Man, who had previously played a minor role in the 2009 horror film Heartless which was written and directed by Ridley.[4]

Story

The play shows the interplay between a Man and Woman.

Through their dialogue they speak with poetic intensity and describe being involved in highly imaginative and improbable situations, such as leading armies of monkeys, fighting a sea serpent and being abducted by aliens.

They both speak romantically to each other - describing with passion how they find each other beautiful - as well as violently - such as performing sexual acts on each other with weaponry.

Throughout the majority of the play the audience is unaware as to what is fantasy and what is reality, with the narrative frequently shifting within the interplay of the Man and Woman.

Music
"Fade and Float"
Single by Dreamskin Cradle
Released28 March 2011
Length4:27
Songwriter(s)Philip Ridley, Nick Bicât

Featured in the play is the song Fade and Float, the lyrics of which were written by Ridley. The song was developed into a full studio recording by Ridley's band Dreamskin Cradle, which consists of Nick Bicât as composer, Mary Leay as singer, and Ridley as lyricist.[5] The record was released as a single on all major download sites in March 2011[6]

Critical reception

Reviews

The play's original production was met with mostly positive reviews, with praise going to the performances of Jack Gordon and Vinette Robinson, the direction of David Mercatali, as well as Ridley's writing for its use of imagination, poetic language and ambition.

Lyn Gardner for The Guardian awarded the play 4 stars, praising the direction and performances: “It is simply and sensationally staged by David Mercatali, and performed as if its two actors feel every word simultaneously like a caress along the spine and a fist in the face.” She also wrote in admiration of the script, stating that “Ridley's play is completely and dizzyingly of itself. The writing seethes and burns. It goes not just into the bedroom, but into the mind, the secret places that we hide from everyone except lovers. Seldom has sexual love been explored on stage with such ferocious honesty, brutality and melting tenderness.”[7] Susannah Clapp for The Observer praised the production for its acting, writing that “Jack Gordon and Vinette Robinson should make their names in this. They perform both dance and dialogue magnificently. They swirl around each other as if the stage were a jacuzzi.” She also praised Ridley's use of dialogue for imaginatively “paint[ing] pictures of passion… It is wild, obvious, flailing, babyish, luscious”[8] Neil Dowden of Exeunt Magazine praised the production for the performances – “there is real chemistry in the acting” – along with the writing: “Tender Napalm shows Ridley at his most poetic, concocting a fractured, shimmering sequence of video-game-style images to illuminate the primal feelings between a man and a woman struggling together in love.”[9] Aleks Sierz for The Arts Desk wrote a glowing review, declaring that “[Ridley’s] first new play in three years, which opened last night, breaks fresh ground and represents an imaginative leap of the gleaming dark of his wild, wild imagination… As the pounding music sets the scene, and both actors start to flex their muscles, you immediately feel the beads of sweat gathering on your brow. A quiet voice deep inside tells you that this is going to be a good one. And it is!... this is a fabulous piece of imaginative writing. Long live Ridley!”[10]

However, not all reviews were completely positive. Though still awarding the play 4 stars, Michael Coveney of WhatsOnStage.com found fault in the last 15 minutes for being “perhaps… over-freighted with Shoreditch and Essex detail, and the missing father figure on both sides doesn’t play with much dramatic significance.” He however still praised the production effusively for being “a rough, raucous, verbally extravagant and sometimes shocking theatrical firecracker, [that] makes you realise how pallid most theatre writing – and acting – can be when everyone’s on their best behaviour.”[11] Philip Fisher of British Theatre Guide wrote in admiration for the boldness of Ridley's writing, saying that “Ridley might be the last bastion of In-Yer-Face Theatre. Where others have mellowed and generate plays like anyone else of their now middle-aged generation, he still gleefully pushes the boundaries of form and taste. Whether that is a good thing could be open to debate.” He however did question as to what the meaning was behind the play: “Quite what message it wishes to convey is not entirely clear, possibly that love conquers all, at least for a period, since death is an inevitability” but noted that “In any event, the two actors give their all and sensible audience members will enjoy the acting and wallow in the exotic poetry and imagery, rather than wondering why they are there.”[12] Time Out London awarded the play 3 stars. While writing that it was “ferociously well acted” and that the play was “evocative, hallucinatory stuff” the publication criticised the script, stating that “I’m not sure Ridley has got the balance of tenderness and napalm quite right. The underlying warmth takes the danger out of the pair’s flights of fancy, but their words and actions remain too opaque to let you in emotionally.” However, the magazine still wrote that despite its flaws the production was “an unforgettable 80 minutes.”[13] Dominic Cavendish of The Daily Telegraph however awarded the play only two stars. While lauding Ridley's ambition – “I won’t deny that this is a tricksy, inventive, risk-taking piece - Ridley is a clever man, and he likes to play with theatrical fire” – he criticised the writing for being overblown: “For all its conceptual neatness, though, there’s a slapdash, jejune and over-ripe texture to the script… a rampaging, hormonal quality may be part of the point… yet all the hyperactive fabulation shreds our capacity to care.”[14]

Either way the play was a success and was nominated for a variety of awards and featured on a number of 'best theatre of the year' lists, Including for Time Out London,[15] The Observer[16] and The Guardian[17]

In July 2011 acclaimed actor Ben Daniels wrote an article for The Guardian describing Jack Gordon's and Vinette Robinson's acting as “the best performance I’ve ever seen” saying that “the actors only had each other, and the way they worked together was glorious. Not once did you wish there was a set. And because it was in traverse you could see other people watching it with you, watching you have this visceral response. It's very rare to actually see people having a similar response to you. It was a unique feeling, and afterwards I felt jittery, like the carpet had been pulled from under my feet. Performances like theirs make you want to be better.”[18]

Awards

  • London Fringe Best Play Award - Nominated[19][20]
  • Off West End Award for Best Female Performance for Vinette Robinson - Won[21]
  • Off West End Award for Best Producer for Will Young and Ben Monks of Supporting Wall - Shortlisted[22]
  • Off West End Award for Best Director for David Mercatali - Longlisted[23]
  • Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Newcomer for David Mercatali - Longlisted[24]

Notable Productions
CountryDateLocationPeopleDetails
England19 April 2011Southwark Playhouse, London.Produced by Supporting Wall. Directed by David Mercatali. World Premiere. This production later toured the UK from 10 May 2012 with a different cast:
  • Man - Tom Byam Shaw
  • Woman - Lara Rossi
Australia19 August 2011The Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, Perth.Produced by Perth Theatre Company. Directed by Melissa Cantwell.
  • Man - Joshua Brennan
  • Woman - Anna Houston
 Australian Premiere.[25]
The United States23 August 2012Theater C, 59E59 Theaters, New York.Produced by The Shop. Directed by Paul Takacs.
  • Man - Blake Ellis
  • Woman - Amelia Workman
 United States Premiere.[26]
Ireland27 November 2012Space Upstairs, Project Arts Centre, Dublin.Produced by Sugarglass Theatre. Directed by Marc Atkinson. Irish Premiere.[27]
Australia21 September 2012The Roundhouse Theatre, Brisbane.Produced by La Boite Theatre Company. Directed by David Berthold.
  • Man - Kurt Phelan
  • Woman - Ellen Bailey
 Australian Revival.[28]
Canada8 August 2013Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto.Produced by Phantasmagoria Collective. Directed by Cynthia Ashperger.
  • Man - Kyle Purcell
  • Woman - Amelia Sargisson
 Canadian Premiere.[29]
Malta30 January 2014St James Cavalier, Valletta.Produced by Unifaun Theatre Productions. Directed by Tonni Attard.
  • Man - Andre Agius
  • Woman - Bettina Paris
 Maltese Premiere.[30] The production later played from 10–25 August at C Nova, Studio 1 as part of the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The United States18 March 2014Signature Theatre, Arlington County, Virginia.Produced by Signature Theatre. Directed by Matthew Gardiner.
  • Man - Elan Zafir
  • Woman - Laura C. Harris
 Washington D.C. Premiere.[31][32]
Wales29 May 2014Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff.Produced by Company of Sirens. Directed by Chris Durnall.
  • Man - Jannah Warlow
  • Woman - Matthew Bulgo
 Welsh Premiere.[33]
Spain 8 July 2017 Sala Beckett, Barcelona Produced by Sixto Pax. Directed by Pau Roca. Collaboration of circus company PSiRC. Barcelona Premiere. Premiered during Grec Festival Barcelona[34]
The United States18 July 2019Dorothy B. Williams Theatre, HERE Arts Center, New York.Executive Produced by Ayana Parker Morrison. Direction and Design by David Norwood.
  • Man - Amara James Aja
  • Woman - Ayana Major Bey
 First African-American Production.[35]

References
  1. Tender Napalm's page on Bloomsbury Publishing
  2. Blog post advertising play on Hamish Hodell Talent Management
  3. Gardner, Mimi (4 March 2015). "A dynamic duo with Philip Ridley and David Mercatali". A Younger Theatre. London.
  4. Dowden, Neil (25 April 2011). "Tender Napalm". Exeunt Magazine. London.
  5. "Dreamskin Cradle Launched". NickBicât.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  6. Fade and Float listed on Amazon.co.uk
  7. Gardner, Lyn (27 April 2011). "Tender Napalm - Review". The Guardian. London.
  8. Clapp, Susannah (8 May 2011). "Tender Napalm; All's Well That Ends Well; Macbeth – review". The Observer. London.
  9. Dowden, Neil (25 April 2011). "Tender Napalm". Exeunt Magazine. London.
  10. Sierz, Aleks (22 April 2011). "Tender Napalm, Southwark Playhouse: Philip Ridley's new play about love is a stunning work of powerful fantasy". The Arts Desk. London.
  11. Coveney, Michael (25 April 2011). "Tender Napalm". WhatsOnStage.com. London.
  12. Fisher, Philip. "Tender Napalm". British Theatre Guide. London.
  13. "Tender Napalm". Time Out London. London. 21 April 2011.
  14. Cavendish, Dominic (12 May 2011). "Tender Napalm, Southwark Playhouse, review: For all its conceptual neatness, Philip Ridley's first play in three years doesn't come close to touching the heart". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  15. "The best of 2011: theatre". Time Out London. London.
  16. Clapp, Susannah (11 December 2011). "The best theatre of 2011: Susannah Clapp's choice". The Observer. London.
  17. Gardner, Lyn (31 December 2011). "Best theatre of 2011: epic, intimate and very 21st century". The Guardian. London.
  18. Daniels, Ben (10 July 2011). "Ben Daniels: the best performance I've ever seen". The Guardian. London.
  19. Philip Ridley's Bloomsbury page
  20. Blog post from Hamish Hodell Talent Management detailing nominations for the London Festival Fringe Awards Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "2012 OFFIE WINNERS ANNOUNCED at a fabulous award ceremony at Theatre Royal Stratford East". OffWestEnd.com.
  22. "OFFIE SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED after a day of contention, controversy and too much coffee". OffWestEnd.com.
  23. Production information for 'Feathers in the Snow' at the Southwark Playhouse
  24. "London Evening Standard Theatre Awards longlist revealed". The Evening Standard. London. 19 October 2011.
  25. J. Pascoe, Courtney (24 August 2011). "Tender Napalm - Perth Theatre Company". AussieTheatre.com. Perth.
  26. Newsdesk, BWW (16 July 2011). "Philip Ridley's Tender Napalm Begins 8/23 at 59E59 Theaters". Broadway World.com. New York.
  27. Sugarglass Theatre Company’s ‘Tender Napalm’ page
  28. Sherritt, Lauren (27 September 2012). "Tender Napalm - La Boite Theatre Company". Australian Stage. Brisbane.
  29. 2013 production of Tender Napalm on the Toronto Theatre Database
  30. "Tender Napalm - Unifaun Theatre Past Productions". Unifaun Theatre Productions.
  31. Signature Theatre Company’s ‘Tender Napalm’ page
  32. Pressley, Nelson (25 March 2014). "'Tender Napalm' at Signature Theatre can be hard to watch, but you can't look away". The Washington Post. Washington D.C.
  33. Smith, Othniel. "Tender Napalm". British Theatre Guide. Cardiff.
  34. "Tender Napalm | Grec 2017. Festival de Barcelona". lameva.barcelona.cat. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  35. Newsdesk, BWW (24 June 2019). "Acclaimed Philip Ridley Drama TENDER NAPALM Returns July 18". Broadway World.com. New York.
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