As I entered this new space at ten thirty last night after a full days reviewing my heart sank. There was a young man lying asleep on a sofa in the dimly lit space surrounded by beer cans and rubbish. Here we go my cynical critics voice said, probably another dire student drama about suicide or how difficult it is to be a teenager or child abuse or all three.
Nothing that happened in the first five minutes really persuaded me from that pre-judgment. The young man woke, and his sister came in. We discover that he was called Stevie (Henry Jones) and she was called Jess (Jennifer Thomas) and that they were living alone because their parents were dead. Stevie was obviously mentally unstable. So far, so horrifyingly predictable
Then the lights went down and came up, it was later, and Jesss boyfriend Ozzie (Christopher Birks) had returned to see her from University. Suddenly the play took off, and became genuinely funny. We realise Ozzie has come to dump Jess, but before he does she announces that she is pregnant - weve spawned!
What follows in this short play by Will Abberly (who also directs) is a kind of farce without the entrances and exits, as the siblings are determined that Ozzie is going to become a permanent part of their family. The performances are quite strong, especially from Christopher Birks and the script has some funny one-liners. In the end, however, it cant really make its mind up what sort of play it is It gets violent), or what its trying to say about anything much, and there is a certain discomfort about its take on mental illness. Much better lighting would help lift the mood - its impossible to play comedy successfully in the gloom
Worth going, though, if for no other reason than to watch an audiences body language change almost en masse as they realise that were not there for teenage angst but teenage laughs.
