Review: Foxfinder/The Effect, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘A superb double bill showcasing a raft of talent from BOVTS’

When Bristol Old Vic Theatre School announces a production, one tends to be in for a treat. The prestigious institution – whose alumni include Daniel Day-Lewis, Olivia Colman and Patrick Stewart – has a habit of creating work that wouldn’t be out of place on any stage at all.

For their 19th Summer Festival, BOVTS is showcasing their graduating directors and designers in four double-bills at Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio. The first pairing, yesterday evening, saw Dawn King’s Foxfinder precede Lucy Prebble’s The Effect.

Foxfinder, which won the 2011 Papatango New Writing Prize, interrogates faith and conspiracy in a ravaged and dystopian England. In the context of widespread food scarcity and flooding, a shadowy government has its accusatory finger pointed firmly in the direction of one suspect: the fox.

Whether or not foxes continue to exist in England is in some sense beside the point: the eponymous Foxfinders are trained in isolation from a young age in chastity, discipline and the preternatural cunning of their sworn enemy.

Not unlike The Crucible, Foxfinder sees hysteria and superstition visited upon the domicile of a stolid farmer and his loyal wife, and explores adroitly the corrupting effect of societal post-truthism and paranoia on the individuals within it.

Directed by Rafael Solimeno-Harris and designed by Miroslaw Kusz, this production features Peter Devlin as William Bloor (the foxfinder), George Lorimer as Samuel, Lotte Pearl as Samuel’s wife Judith, and Nia Johal as their neighbour Sarah.

The production is fantastic. It was clear to me the second I walked into the theatre that I would love this work – I’ve learned to trust my instincts on set design, and Kusz’s set is immediately arresting, somehow portraying a sense of threat and unease in its complexion and configuration. Kusz is clearly a talented and insightful artist.

All four performances are superb. Johal’s increasing anxiety and eventual breakdown is played wonderfully; Pearl’s optimism and loyalty is pitched perfectly. Lorimer’s Samuel – who really is almost indistinguishable from John Proctor on the page – is a captivating and ultimately upsetting figure.

As the foxfinder, Devlin is terrifying. An entire life of restraint disfigures Bloor’s face. Solimeno-Harris is a terrific young Director. It is abundantly clear that all six of these creatives have a professional future in the industry, should they desire it.

The Effect by Lucy Prebble tells the story of Connie (Violet Morris) and Tristan (Ebube Chukwuma) as they fall in love on a clinical trial. This obviously delicious premise is well-served by director Lara Lawman and designer Alfie Packam, whose clinical set is appropriately caged and unsettling. Staffing the trial is Dr Lorna James (Elysia Showan) and Dr Toby Sealey (Callum Davies).

Morris’ performance is moving, as Connie wrestles with the neurological origins of attraction. Whether or not love brought on by antidepressants is ‘real’ is the central question posed by the play, and Morris does well to never let that question slip too far from her character’s mind.

Chukwuma provides a dynamic and humorous delivery, with impressive physicality. Tristan is convinced that the love he feels is authentic, that he is the control subject on the placebo, and this conviction brightens Chukwuma’s insouciance and charm.

James’ tight-lipped performance helps fuel the sense of emotions as synthetic in this production, and as an audience you are always waiting for her to crack. Showan manages this suspense well.

Sealey’s quasi-psychopathic performance is a thought-provoking critique of the wider practice, and with Chukwuma adds a touch of the cavalier to counterbalance the severe and clinical context.

Again, all six of these creatives are exciting talents making impressive work. I will look forward to whatever the future holds for them.

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Summer Festival is at The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic between May 22-June 14; there are four double bills in successive weeks, with shows at 7pm on Thursday-Saturday, and an additional 1.30pm matinee on Saturday.

Tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk, and shows are recommended for ages 14+.

All photos: Dotty McCormack/Shot by Dot 

Read next:

• Bristol Old Vic Theatre School announces 2025 Summer Festival lineup
• Review: Thebans, The Station – ‘It is a tribute to the BOVTS that so many skills are honed within this excellent institution’
• Review: Henry V, Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘An excellent ensemble performance, full of power and fizz’