The Defamation

25th July 2024

Following their first successful Bitesize Festival back in January, Riverside Studios have programmed another instalment of this exciting new concept showcasing work from new and emerging theatre makers.  

Running from 5th-31st July 2024, Riverside are boasting more shows, a wider variety of performances and an accessible £10 ticket price across all productions. The festival delivers punchy, thought-provoking, inspiring, and innovative theatre in bite size pieces from new writing to well-established hits, with many travelling from Riverside to the Edinburgh Fringe thereafter. 

Those audiences who enter the festival, feel and see all the performances each day will be rewarded with a free drink from Riverside’s thriving Bar and Kitchen.

Tonight’s show, The Defamation, was a great example of another inspired troupe (Itchy Feet Theatre) developing new writing and providing opportunities for seven young performers to showcase their talents. 

“Jen Tucker, who enjoyed recent success with ‘The Nine Day Queen’ at nearby Barons Court Theatre, is already showing huge potential and ‘The Defamation’, written in plain verse, is another example of her ability to create meaningful writing.”

As with any festival, artists face compromises in whatever makeshift space has been made available.  This production battled the corporate setting of the river room which lacked atmosphere and the loud buzzing of the bar fridge which sporadically drowned out some cast members with softer voices. The small stage allowed little creativity for blocking and as a result the piece was often static and lacking energy, giving the feeling of a rehearsed reading rather than a play. 

Writer, producer and performer Jen Tucker who enjoyed recent success with The Nine Day Queen at nearby Barons Court theatre, is already showing huge potential and The Defamation, written in plain verse, is another example of her ability to create meaningful writing.

Inspired by the events of and around the Depp vs. Heard defamation lawsuit, The Defamation visualises an afterlife where a woman’s fate is decided by trial. But something is rotten in this court. When Charity, loosely based on Heard herself, arrives in the afterlife and encounters several of Shakespeare’s heroines, the true injustice of the court is revealed as patterns begin to emerge. Combining past and present in a thought-provoking collision, The Defamation explores the treatment of women in the legal arena in the 17th and 21st centuries alike. 

The play delivers an important message, which Tucker encapsulates beautifully in the closing speech which was powerfully delivered by Zoe Kirk who played Charity. 

There are strong performances from Giulia Duggan as Lady M, and Aaron Thakar who plays Gilmore – an employee of the court where women stand trial. Thacker in a cameo role brought some welcome light relief to an otherwise sombre piece and gave a convincing performance as he was asked to challenge his own views on the women standing trial. 

Despite the play being well written, sadly the lack of direction and a number of weaker performances made this one-hour difficult to get through and whilst the content was emotive and thought provoking, I was largely unmoved by the way in which it was delivered.  This is a play with huge potential but it regrettably fell short.

Stephen Cambridge