The characters in this play are boring – that’s not my opinion, it’s theirs. Henry and Alice are trapped in a boring marriage, and they survive by escaping into a fantasy world, imagining themselves as actors, or spies, or glamorous socialites at a sexy party. The play wants to be ‘Billy Liar’, contrasting the humdrum reality of their daily lives with the exciting world of their imaginations. Unfortunately, their daily lives aren’t very realistic and their imaginations aren’t very imaginative: in both, the play relies on crudely drawn stereotypes which quickly lose their appeal. Thankfully, the two actors are immensely likeable, and throw themselves into their parts, holding our attention for longer than the sub-par material probably deserves.
theSpaces On The Mile, 5 – 27 Aug, times vary, £5.50 – £7.00, fpp260.
tw rating 2/5
[nw]
Sections: by Nathan Wood - ED2011 Theatre Reviews - tw rating 2/5 | Tags: Space Venues, Upstage Theatre Company
Also from ThreeWeeks...
ED2011 Theatre Review: Singing “I’m No A Billy, He’s A Tim” (Goldfish Theatre Company Limited/The Stand Comedy Club)
This is a play about football. It’s also a comedy with a powerful message. Billy and Tim are two football fans locked in a police cell together. The trouble is,...
ED2011 Theatre Review: Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down (The Main Road Theatre Company)
Royce Boland is a bad’un: a wife-beater, stalker and near-murderer. Thankfully, this horrific character never appears on stage. Instead, ‘Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down’ is the story of three...
ED2011 Theatre Review: The Infant (Les Infants Terribles Theatre)
Dark, macabre and thrilling, ‘Les Infants Terribles’ know how to put on a show. The stagecraft of this play puts it a cut above average; the sound is thrilling, and...
GET ALERTS OF NEW THREEWEEKS CONTENT: Click here to sign up to the free ThreeWeeks email
