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Ring Ring

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 3 Published: 27 Nov 2025 White Bear Theatre Show Dates: 25 Nov 2025-6 Dec 2025

Gary Owen’s RING RING, directed by David Bond for Shed/Vox Theatre company, receives its professional premiere at the White Bear Theatre, having been commissioned by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as part of their NEW programme of original work.

The simplicity of the situations belies the complexity of the interactions.

The structure of RING RING is inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s Reigen (1898), otherwise known as La Ronde. That play was banned in 1904, its 1921 premiere was shut down by the Vienna police, and its author was prosecuted for obscenity amid additional criticisms of anti-Semitism. The original no longer suffers such a fate, and this adaptation is sufficiently innocuous as to leave no one upset or distressed.

The ensemble cast of Iwan Bond, Leisa Gwenllian, Izzi McCormack-John, Tiger Tingley, and Alfie Todd proves competent, and there are moments of humour and intensity in the dialogues. The functional set by Alberto Aquilin allows for movement within the confines of the stage, while lighting by Trekessa Austin and original music by Leo Nathan assist in mood changes.

Nowadays, it’s hard to replicate anything approaching the impact of the original. Attitudes have changed. Viennese society was likely highly stratified and tightly structured. Relationships that crossed these boundaries were seen as scandalous. There are elements of secrecy and infidelity in Owen’s work, but they seem no more than aspects of everyday modern life, and the whole is far less overtly sexual. No syphilis doing the rounds here!

Pairs of actors consecutively perform scenes, with one character remaining on stage to be joined by a different partner in the next vignette, providing continuity as a different aspect of the person’s life is revealed. It illustrates that, individually, we see only part of what makes a person, and that in another setting a person can be perceived differently.

The focus in the various scenes is on how people handle situations, deal with conflict, and seek resolution. The simplicity of the situations belies the complexity of the interactions: trying to avoid signing up to donate money under pressure from a charity worker; managing a relationship with your partner; parental responsibility and divorce; or catching out a would-be world traveller spewing false tales.

The points are easily made, but there are perhaps more scenes than necessary to make them in the 90-minute run.

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The Blurb:

“What if it gets easier? What if we can cope? What if everything we think is us going wrong is actually just how hard it is coping with all this and it isn’t going to be hard any more? What if, actually, if we just hold on, what if actually… we’re alright?”

Gary Owen’s Ring Ring, inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde, spins a series of chance encounters and tangled relationships into a witty, poignant exploration of connection, hope and human resilience.Owen, one of Wales’ most celebrated playwrights, is known for Violence and Son (Royal Court), Romeo and Julie(National Theatre), Killology (Sherman Theatre / Royal Court) and Iphigenia in Splott (Sherman Cymru). His upcoming work Owain and Henry will be staged by National Theatre Wales starring Michael Sheen.Originally commissioned by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, this marks the first professional productionof Ring Ring.