CurtainUp
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A CurtainUp London Review
Deny Deny Deny
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"I am not a cheat. I am a pioneer."
— Rona
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Shivorne Marks as Joyce and Juma Sharkah as Eve (Photo: Darren Bell)
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We first meet Eve (Juma Sharkah) an aspiring athlete of Sierra Leonean origin and her boyfriend, journalist and manager Tom (Daniel Fraser) in Shepherd's Bush, planning four children to make up an athletic relay team, they quip. Eve is a sprinter and her main rival is the more successful Joyce (Shivorne Marks), who is being mentored by top coach Rona. Zoe Waites gives a tremendous performance as Rona, a prize bitch and as aggressive as any cage fighter with many of Maitland's wittiest lines. We may despise her methods but we admire her hutzpah. She is scarily assertive with her long hair and red lipstick.
Rona tells Joyce she will coach Eve as a running mate, not a challenger for her titles. In fact Rona through highly persuasive, weasel words will persuade Eve to try a new gene editing technique, undetectable by the sports testing authorities but which will eliminate any athletic weakness. Both Tom and Joyce will be cast off by their respective partners.
When faced with competition from a transsexual, former male now female, running in the women's race, Rona says, "If you didn't wake up when you were 13 with your pants full of blood, you can't say you are a woman." To the point and politically incorrect. Eve wins success and Tom comes to her saying he has been asked to write a story about her drug taking. Here comes the title of the play: the advice to deny, deny, deny.
Designer Polly Sullivan and Lighting Designer Tim Mitchell, together create race track lines, excitingly lit on the floor of the stage. John Ross' movement has Eve evading the obstacles placed in her way by Tom and Joyce. The debate with the investigator and the onslaught of the German press start to expose the cracks in this revealing production from director Brendan O'Hea.
The performance from Juma Sharkah as Eve is excellent as she runs and races onstage wanting to do the right thing but put into a spin by Rona's barrage of argument. I can see a great acting future for Juma Sharkah. She looks a little like Marie Jones, the sprinter who won five gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and who eight years later, after fierce denials, told of her steroid consumption. Zoe Waites has a powerful chin put to good use as the she-devil coach Rona, who is both powerful and compelling.
I came out of Deny Deny Deny wondering how the authorities would keep up with the pharmaceutical developments with sport being big business for the very successful and athletes having whole body changes of blood to make usage undetectable. Jonathan Maitland has written a telling play about the ethical dilemma for many sportsmen and women as to how to compete fairly in an unfair world.
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PRODUCTION NOTES
Deny Deny Deny
by Jonathan Maitland
Directed by Brendan O'Hea
Starring: Zoe Waites, Juma Sharkah
With: Sarah Finigan, Daniel Fraser, Shivorne Marks
Designer: Polly Sullivan
Sound Design: Mic Pool
Lighting Design: Tim Mitchell
Movement: John Ross
Running time: Two hours with an interval
A Cahoots Production
Box Office: 020 7870 6876
Booking to 3rd December 2016
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 3rd November 2016 performance at The Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, London N4 3JP (Tube: Finsbury Park)
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