Featured Post

Scenes from a marriage: Jab @parktheatre

Image
Jab takes us back to five years ago when no theatres were open. Instead, it was staying at home watching endless television, clapping for the NHS, mask-wearing and hand washing. Against this backdrop, isolation from a married couple of 29 years slowly drives them apart and to the brink. But while it captures the period well, you want to know more about this couple on the edge. It's currently playing at Park Theatre after its premiere run at the Finborough Theatre last year.  James McDermott's play is loosely based on his parent's lives during the pandemic. It opens with Ann (Kacey Ainsworth) and Don (Liam Tobin) watching the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson inform the nation they need to stay at home. She is an NHS worker, and he runs a vintage shop. As she is an essential worker, she has work to do, but he is forced to stay at home while his shop is closed. There's also another source of tension in that Anne brings in all the income in the household. And so we watch ...

Searching undeterred: The Gift @ParkTheatre


I recently had a few parcels go missing from where I live. The first parcel disappeared without a trace. The second parcel's contents were removed, and the box was left alone in the lobby. It's one of the things that you have to put up with living in central London. Apart from complaining to the delivery company and filing a police report, it crossed my mind to think about what would happen if I sent myself something rather unpleasant for a future parcel thief to open up. Well, Dave Florez's new work, The Gift, is in this line of thinking, except that the lead receives an anonymous gift of a turd in the mail rather than sending it to himself. It is lovingly gift-wrapped in a cake box from a posh north London bakery. It's a fascinating and hilarious three-hander currently playing at Park Theatre

Colin (Nicholas Burns) is a little obsessive at the best of times. He doesn't let things drop quickly and is obsessed with the details behind anything and everything, from making a spreadsheet on his laptop to putting together detailed boards about potential suspects. The most bonkers thing to do seems the most natural thing to do. 

And so when he receives the anonymous package in the mail, he descends down a rabbit hole of paranoia and vengeance. His sister, Lisa (Laura Haddock) and her partner, Brian (Alex Price), try to distract him with trips to his favourite Crouch End restaurant or possible clues about who sent the missive, but all to no avail. 

Produciton photo

On one level, this is a play about not very much. But on the other hand, it feels very topical for the life of a forty-something Londoner. There's the anonymity of living in a big city, the puny enjoyments of a favourite restaurant or bakery in a town where finding something decent and reasonably priced to eat is an endless challenge; all the while, time is marching on, and there are regrets about settling down or making the connection.

The cast creates a convincing set of characters trapped in a bonkers farce of their own making. The story sometimes descends into the manosphere, but Haddock's character is the sane voice in the proceedings. 

The pace is fast, so you don't have too much time to think about it, but that also keeps the laughs flowing. It may be nervous laughter where some of the wry observations about life in London seem familiar. Or what would happen if some unknown person decided they didn't like you? In London, anything's possible. 

Directed by Adam Meggido, The Gift is at Park Theatre until 1 March. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

production photo

Production photos by Rich Southgate

Popular posts from this blog

Opera and full frontal nudity: Rigoletto

Fantasies: Afterglow @Swkplay

Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre