Press

Nativities – review

Live, Newcastle

Alfred Hickling
The Guardian, Friday 17 February 2012 16.30 GMT

When is a frog not a frog? When it's a metaphor, I suppose, as there's much talk of small amphibians in Zoe Cooper's play, which contains a scene in which a disintegrating couple discuss a recent miscarriage with a small pile of entrails on the table. For one appalling moment you think it might be a foetus. Thankfully, it turns out to be a frog, though how the poor thing perished remains unclear. Cooper sets her debut play at Scion Communications, a giant call centre that happens to be in Newcastle, but could be anywhere, a place where the workers complain of "boiling like frogs". There's a fine scene in which the lines go into meltdown, the staff attempting to fend off irate customers while their supervisor issues angry reminders that "this is a call centre, not a counselling service"

Cooper has a fine eye for the banalities and brutalities of office life, though it is difficult not to feel that this is well-trodden territory – there's even an oleaginous middle manager named David who does an embarrassing dance at the end. The dialogue is a full-tilt fusillade of elision, riffs and repetition that, at its best, suggests a Geordie Glengarry Glen Ross, though the continual stream of cross-purpose conversations can sometimes feel more like playwriting than patter.

Max Robert's production features some nicely presented performances, in particular from Samantha Neale as an almost invisible admin assistant, and Laura Norton as a hot-tempered phone monkey with a hilarious inability to hold her tongue. It's a debut full of sparky intelligence that promises good things to come. But as to whether Cooper's play is yet the finished article... would you mind if I put you on hold?

Rising Star Behind the Bar;

Aspiring actress Sam Neale has gone from pulling pints at The Cluny to starring in a new ITV drama set in the North East. KAREN WILSON speaks to the future star.

SHE may have a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an OBE, but actress Brenda Blethyn was happy to take tips on the Geordie accent from up-and-coming actress Sam Neale. The 24-year-old from Lemington, Newcastle, has just finished filming a two-part ITV thriller called Vera, based on a book by Whitley Bay crime writer Ann Cleeves.

"Brenda's lovely," she says. "She asked me how to say something in Geordie, because she has to have a Geordie accent. I just told her to say everything as a question! I think she's really nailed it though."

Sam plays the part of beautiful young primary school teacher Lily Marsh, who she says is "a normal young girl who's concealing a lot of inner turmoil." Her body is discovered laid out in a rock pool strewn with flowers while Brenda Blethyn investigates the case as chief inspector Vera Stanhope. Gina McKee also stars as a mum who finds her son murdered when she arrives home from a night out in Newcastle.

Adapted from the book Hidden Depths by Paul Rutman, who has written for Marple and Lewis, it's a high-profile role for Sam, who works part-time behind the bar at The Cluny. And she's thrilled that Vera is being filmed in the North East.

"We filmed a lot on the Northumbrian coast in Druridge Bay and Newton-by-the-Sea," she says. "And there'll also be scenes in Newcastle city centre and The Sage Gateshead. Hopefully it'll give the North East some good exposure. They've hired quite a few North East actors too, which is great. In fact there's only a few who aren't in."

Sam says working at The Cluny - a hotbed for creative types and out-of-work actors - was the springboard for winning the role, as other staff members encouraged her to get in touch with agent Janet Plater.

This led to a part in ITV comedy drama Married, Single, Other, which will be on our screens in January. "I play a cyber punk girl who has an illicit affair with one of the characters," says Sam, who lives with her bookeeper mum and 19-year-old brother Sonny, a budding drum and bass DJ.

"I'm only in one episode but you can't miss me!" As the casting director was impressed with Sam's work, she suggested she audition for Vera.

But The Cluny isn't the only creative environment that has spurred Sam on. As a child, it was visiting her auntie Babs Johnson that sparked a love of entertaining. As a club promoter for the Riverside and the woman who brought Nirvana to The Mayfair, her home was often full of musicians.

"We would have bands playing at the house and it was a really creative environment," says Sam. "I just knew I wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry from a very young age.

"As a joke, they used to get me on stage with some of the bands as a toddler so I thought I wanted to be a singer. I would do holiday talent competitions and school plays, then when I was about 13, I joined The Tyne Theatre youth group. I knew then that acting was my main calling. I've still got a bit of a rock star complex, but I have no talent in that area whatsoever!" Having a dad who makes films with youth projects was also a big help.

"He did my show reel for me when I was just starting out," says Sam. "He's got all the equipment, so I can play about with it and do short films. It was good practise."

After graduating in Performing Arts at Newcastle College and Northumbria University in July 2007, Sam's first proper paid role was a panto with North Shields-based Gibber last year. As the love interest in Dick Whittington grew, she spent a gruelling month doing three shows a day, with the cast hauling the set around themselves. "It was such a learning experience," she says. "I'm so thankful for it because I worked like a dog and it showed me the level of work you need to put into it."

In between jobs Sam keeps busy, performing comedy sketches with her friend Simon Buglass in North East pubs. "It's a laugh and comes easily to us," explains Sam. "There's often a long space of time between jobs so we do it rather than just sitting around."

Having just filmed her last scene for Vera this month in a mortuary, Sam can't wait to see the finished result on TV next year, possibly in the autumn. But her ultimate ambition would be to star in a Cohen brothers film.

"I'd eventually like to open a rehearsal space here. I don't think there's enough done to nurture and encourage talent. If I'm successful, I definitely want to put something back into the region."