Double Act

Southwark Playhouse Borough

A heavy subject of men's mental health displayed in a way that is light-hearted and suggestive. This will get you talking about an important subject that needs attention.

Before reading this review and seeing this show I just want to highlight the heavy themes the show is based on. This show is about mental health/suicide, whilst it is portrayed in a balanced and respectful way. The intense scenes are met with lighter scenes and dark subjects are portrayed as suggestively as possible; to give the audience ease. The language used, scenes and storyline may be triggering. Please be mindful of the subjects discussed and ensure you are comfortable!

The main question that this piece asks the audience is: What would you do on your last day? A tough and emotion charged question. It follows a man who has bunked off work to have a mental health day and as the piece goes on the audience realise that the character is planning to end his life when the day ends. This piece is a two man show performed by Nick Hyde (the writer), Oliver Maynard and directed by Jef Hall-Flavin. They both multi-role as the main character, people the character comes across on his day, the battle between him and his mind. It's raw, the performance elements: symbolism, clowning and physical theatre creates a playful tone, and the dark themes explored are not explicitly mentioned, only hinted at for the audience to grasp the plot. The comic approach makes the play easy for the audience to digest and gives them a break from the difficult moments. It is an important piece that highlights the importance of the conversation of mental health, there is no mention of the character's name, and this presents the fact that it could happen to anyone.

Both performers work in unison to create the impact of the story and highlight the importance of the the subject to the audience. Nick Hyde clearly displays the male character's inner battle with being masculine and appearing strong to the world around him. The way he tenses his body around others, speaks his thoughts and plays out moments of battle in his head clearly shows how easy it is to put on a brave face for the world that surrounds you. One moment in particular is when he is fighting for more space on the tube, he starts bouncing around, hitting his chest, whilst making loud monkey sounds and this turns out to be a vision in his head. This clearly portrays how he feels he isn't masculine enough and feels low about himself for not being a 'strong' man. Oliver Maynard plays the other people that the character interacts with on his journey. His ability to slip into each character is seamless and the contrast between the two characters shows the character's struggle with identity. The two contrast eachother well and bounce off one another! Their relationship and work together is divine, more moments of the two together, letting out more emotion and being more playful would give this piece more edge.

The staging is a white floor and a smaller stage with red curtains. This resembles a puppet like stage and the curtains open to reveal a white bin and blinds in the background. This white staging creates an empty space. Whilst the staging is intriguing, the only strong use of the set is when the blinds change to silver and this beautiful moment shows the reflection of the character in the sea water and the lines in between each blind gives the impression of waves in the water. The staging does not necessarily add to atmosphere or display the environment of the piece, except at the moment when the character is looking into the water. It just feels like a place to store props. The small stage it holds could be utilised for a more animated, comic moment to emphasise the clowning element of the show.

There is a section that the character meets his ex in a McDonalds. The mention of the restaurant and the white fast-food boxes stacked up conflicts. It would be much stronger to not mention a restaurant at all, this would get the audience thinking about what food they would have on their last day and emphasise the idea that the character could be anyone and any experience. If it is McDonalds why are the boxes all white? The other uses of the props on stage are symbolic and brilliant! The use of the microphones to play with the loud judgement in the characters head, the tangling of the wires showing his mental stafe and the mess on stage where the character feels he has got to the point of no return. It is so emotionally charged and clear.

Whilst the show is emotive, the message is clear, and the topic ignites a mental health conversation. The piece has more potential for improvement and performative elements embedded could be taken further. The actors have clearly got a high standard of skills; they could easily be more daring and the two performers more comfortable with each other to explore the arc of the story; the decisions he makes and reaching the 'point of no return'. It is a divine ending where the audience are left to wonder what comes next and it could be seen as a positive or negative closing. This is such a clever piece of writing that leaves the audience to discuss the piece and what they think it meant, there is so much room for a range of observations and ways individuals perceive the storyline. A great conversation starter for talking about mental health and a hard-hitting unique piece of theatre that is so important.