I don't think it's unfair to say that Banal Conversations, on this week at the Camden People's Theatre, is a fragmented piece of theatre. In fact, it seems to be proud of this, with the theatre's website describing the show as told ‘using a variety of forms, such as live storytelling, stand-up comedy and sketch-style scenes.’ the show bounces between these ideas and devices with quite a pace, and the result is a swift, enjoyable but ultimately jumbled evening of theatre.
A devised ensemble piece, the ‘play’ tells the story of a boom-mic operator attempting to better understand human connection by recording the conversations of people around him and trying to use what he discovers to win back the heart of his recently-departed girlfriend.
However, this extremely interesting premise is ultimately let down by the choice to split this idea into stylised sketches, stand up and naturalistic scenes. Each of these fragments of the show are done well enough, with some beautiful and hilarious observations about human interaction, and the charismatic cast manage to deliver these sections with wit and energy while also being given the unfortunate task of holding together the different threads and devices with both hands.
The show contains plenty of laughs, and contains several memorable and well-realised scenes, including the thematic heart of the piece, a hilariously systematic and brutally analytical breakdown of first-date conversation.
My favourite scene however is arguably the climax of the piece, where our hero pleads with his ex-girlfriend, and us, to forget and mind games and instead just listen to one another. It's a beautifully naturalistic scene and punctuated by the right splash of humour (apologising for sounding too American, he awkwardly finds a way to squash the word “bum” into the conversation) that suggests a light but deft touch of heart sadly bereft from the rest of the play.
All of these elements might have found a way to come together in the grand scheme of things were the play not betrayed by an incredibly short run time. In fact, had it not been for the bows I'd have assumed it was merely an interval. The people on all sides of me were equally thrown, turning to each other to make sure it was over. The show was around 45 minutes long, and a large portion of that was taken up with out-of-place one liners which, while an amusing way to break up scenes, were ultimately irrelevant. This abrupt ending left many threads unfinished and many ideas unrealised.
Banal Conversations is an enjoyable, but ultimately incongruent, show, full of laughs but let down by a civil war between its own stylistic choices and its run time. Brilliant fun, badly glued together.
