Take Two Every Four Hours is a heart wrenching tale of friendship in the face of illness. Poignant, powerful and entirely believable Vertical Line Theatre’s production is a beautifully performed gem of a show. The charming script by Henry Regan and Ross Stanley, who also act, is never overdone. Keeping melodrama firmly at bay they tell us a very human story of two utterly lovable sick teenage boys.
The action is set in a hospital where James and Freddy have been sharing a ward for quite some time. The spot above Freddy’s bed is covered in cards of all shapes and sizes and James’ shelf contains a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The space looks clinical but recognisable in some way - if I was to be ill this, I catch myself thinking, is how my ward would look. The dialogue is spot on, crude and charming in equal measure it perfectly captures the teenage male; Freddy could be anyone’s brother, anyone’s friend. This is why Take Two Every Four Hours is so powerful; somehow Regan and Stanley have managed to translate an alien and difficult situation into one that is immediately accessible and in doing so ramp up the emotions refusing to pull their punches when the darker issues come out to play.
Regan is simply superb as Freddy, delivering his monologues with subtlety and ease; a remarkable talent when dealing with such dark material. Stanley has a harder job, the less charming of the two characters he must face up to real demons. James’ final monologues are the only weak spots of the play: the writing almost spells out the obvious, dangerously teetering on the edge of cliché, it meant I couldn’t quite buy into his pain. However this is an anomaly, the piece is in general extraordinarily well written.
Take Two Every Four Hours was a pleasure to watch. Regan and Stanley are stupidly talented; Vertical Line Theatre is one to look out for. The friendship created on stage is heartwarming and beautifully uplifting, you will leave the theatre feeling just that little bit better about life.
