Bare: A Pop Opera - A beautiful production tainted by it's claustrophobic environment.

I’ve been a fan of Bare: A Pop Opera for a number of years. It became one of my favourite musicals after I did a research project on the representation of homosexuality in musical theatre. I fell in love with the music immediately and was desperate for a professional production to be brought to London.

When Bare was announced I was over the moon! I was desperate to see this show performed live and couldn't wait to see what Julie Atherton had created.

Bare: A Pop Opera tells the story of two young boys hiding their relationship in a Catholic boarding school. It features lots of hard-hitting topics relevant to plenty of young people; self-harm, suicide, sexual identity as well as many others. It is easiest comparable to the likes of Spring Awakening.

As a piece of theatre, this show delivers tenfold on my already high expectations. The chemistry between Peter (Daniel Mack Shand) and Jason (Darragh Cowley) was beautiful and their relationship felt beautifully authentic. This show has very intense character arcs for the whole cast, but especially for Jason. Cowley carried this progression effortlessly and was heart-breakingly truthful in his portrayal of his character's mental breakdown.

This show is hard to perform in a sensitive manner because of al the damaging material it discusses, however this production does an excellent job of balancing these elements so that the audience is not overwhelmed by what they are viewing. The majority of “triggering” moments were hinted at rather than made explicit which I really appreciated as it allows people who can relate to these things to still watch this piece of art whilst still feeling represented.

The set design was one of the most poignant aspects of this production. In the centre of the stage, placed directly beside both sides of the audience, is a tree with gorgeous orange leaves. At the end of the show, this tree places an important role in showing the reality behind this show. Having it placed there - where the whole audience had to pass it before leaving, made the experience that much more devastating.

The music (written by Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabarltolo) was, as always, a joy to listen to. The show is mostly sung-through with a few brief scenes of dialogue and so it plays a pivotal role within the show and has a duty to be able to communicate itself to the audience in order to drive the plot forward. It did seem like a few ends of lines were getting lost within the sound mix, which might have just been caused by a couple of technical difficulties. However, for those audience members unfamiliar with this show, this might have affected their understanding of scenes.

Thankfully, the powerful and well-thought out performances of the cast were clear enough to carry the story through even when the sound wasn't always easy to understand.

A special mention should go to to Diane (played by Liv Alexander) who managed to capture my attention every time she walked onstage. She had such an entertaining and humorous presence throughout the entire show. She became my comedy relief for this deeply upsetting show and I'm grateful she was there to keep my spirits lifted..

However, as much as I enjoyed the show, it is impossible to deny that the environment of the theatre space was the most disorganised and chaotic things I’ve ever seen in a theatre.

The seating was merely plastic fold up chairs packed in so tightly that you were left rubbing shoulders with everyone around you. All of this seating could only be reached by one door on the far right-hand side of the stage which meant the process of reaching your seat (especially if you were sat on the left like myself!) was a frustrating ordeal.

The bar area was also not large enough to even begin to host the number of seats in the theatre so as soon as it came to the interval, it was impossible to move at all. Throughout the entire 15 minute interval I was stuck in a queue in the exact same spot of the room because it was physically impossible to move.

I never really like to discuss logistical elements like this when reviewing shows as they are usually so far removed from the creative process of shows. However, for a show which is heavily concerned with mental health, it is incredibly irresponsible to allow your audience to be in such a toxic atmosphere.

I have suffered from panic attacks for a number of years but have become very good at controlling them when they occur. However, when I saw Bare, I was sent into a panic attack so strong that I was still shaking through the majority of Act Two after dealing with the interval madness.

This may all sound rather dramatic and extreme, but I know many other people there that night who expressed very similar feelings. The gentleman sat next to me even had a conversation with me about how negative of an environment it was!

It completely ruined my experience and although this show is very near and dear to my heart, I feel I have a duty of care to warn others of what I experienced. People should never be afraid when experiencing theatre. We all sit down in a room together with the expectation to be taken away from our own lives for a little while. Bare: A Pop Opera and the Vaults Theatre severely let me down in that department, I am truly disappointed.

All of that being said, if you can get past the horrendous seating and organisation - this show is wonderful. It is a powerful and necessary story of love and acceptance which is equally as heartbreaking as it is witty and edgy. I wish Bare a successful run, but I pray that if it makes a return after August 4th, more consideration is taken for the audiences wellbeing so that they are able to just enjoy the piece of theatre as opposed to feeling any kind of distress.

5 Star Rating: **** 4 Stars

To See or Not To See: To See - If you can cope with the venue!