Following the untimely death of their friend Dylan, Polly and Eve are fulfilling his final wishes by travelling around the UK with his ashes in a
Third Wheel is a very strong show and an absolute joy to watch.
Written by Deadpan Theatre’s Eliot Salt and Jude Mack, who double as leading ladies, the show’s script is its clear strength, however it also benefits from an exciting use of the venue’s available tech, harnessing video footage and montage to move the plot along. Mack and Salt are supported by a fantastic cast in multirole parts, with hilarious characterisation throughout. Harry Trevaldwyn deserves special mention for his hysterical performance as the deceased friend who narrates the pair’s travels. Tragedy and humour are comfortable bedfellows in this show, prompting tears and belly-laughs in equal measure.
Despite sharp direction, there’s some choreography within the show which feels overly complex and perhaps doesn’t quite set the scene as well as was hoped, but overall the movement is useful in separating the flashbacks from the plot. The show is slick and paced well with scenes kept fairly short and never feeling lingered-over.
While offering some slightly predictable plot points, an unexplained relationship and a road-trip with locations which seem to have been pulled out of a hat at times, Third Wheel is a very strong show and an absolute joy to watch. The entire cast appear to be having the time of their lives and their love of performance is infectious. The show provides comedy, drama and tension expertly and is acted fantastically, with a script that delivers on jokes again and again.
