The Scrap – No Such Theatre / The Others, London

The Salterton Arts Review finally makes it to No Such Theatre’s monthly work-in-progress night The Scrap, and enjoys a mix of live music, Play Jams, and traditional scratch performances.

No Such Theatre Presents: The Scrap

OK, this post has been a long time coming. I was a bit horrified when I went back to my emails while writing this post. No Such Theatre first invited me to see The Scrap in September last year… Between one thing and another, I didn’t make it until yesterday. For those whose calendars are a bit less ridiculous, The Scrap is on the second Thursday of every month, at The Others in Stoke Newington. This is a delightfully Stoke Newington kind of venue. Very relaxed, above a pool hall, with a cash bar and a pop up record store.

But what is The Scrap? It’s sort of a twist on a scratch night, which I first formally encountered last year at The Cockpit Theatre. In a scratch night, you see a variety of theatrical works in progress as writers and actors try out early-stage work in front of an audience. The difference at The Scrap is that the core of the evening is a selection of Play Jams, “where writers, directors, and actors who have never met are thrown together that same day to stage brand-new work for a live audience.”

There were three such jams last night. Firstly S.O.S. by Faye Stainton, a reminder that a breakup isn’t necessarily the end of the world. Next up was Stretched So Thin As To Be Translucent, an intriguing work by David Turner blending very different tonal aspects and some big themes. And finally there was I Begin to Shimmer by Florence Bell, looking at the slippery slope from idealism to stark reality once you start making deals with tech investors. Bookended by music by Rū Kai and scratch scenes by Burning Ladder Theatre, that was our evening!

Spontaneous and Unpredictable

What I like so much about these sorts of early-stage theatrical evenings is the spontaneity. Particularly with No Such Theatre’s Play Jam format, everything is so new as to still have some of the sharp corners on. Actors haven’t had time for their choices to become habit. Directors are still experimenting with what works. If you like your theatre super polished, this wouldn’t be for you. But if you like your theatre super polished, you wouldn’t be at The Scrap (or indeed any scratch night) in the first place.

I think it’s a testament to the format that there was not much discernible difference between the works that had come together on the day, and the scratch performance which was presumably a bit more rehearsed. The audience responded warmly to each despite the very different nature of the works.

S.O.S. is a nice, warm bit of theatre – I imagine the end result will be very natural feeling. I mentioned that Stretched So Thin As To Be Translucent has tonal shifts. The scenes are wildly different, which makes for an interesting contrast, and brings something more lyrical to the evening. I Begin to Shimmer was a nice opportunity for me to see theatre set at the familiar milieu of a tech conference. It asks big questions, and I would be interested to see where it takes them. And Burning Ladder Theatre’s Scenes from a Falling World was the surprising hit of the evening for me. Lo-fi but all the funnier for it.

So if you’re looking to support theatre practitioners and companies, as well as good causes (your cover charge helps raise money for charity), The Scrap is a good bet. Doors open at 6.30 PM so get there a bit early to enjoy the cash bar and good vibes. And you will undoubtedly find some part of the evening’s programming inspiring.

The Scrap is on at The Others the second Thursday of every month. More info and tickets here.