These Words

This new play by Georgie Bailey has you gripped from it’s first line “These words that’ll linger, and these words do. This is writing at it’s very best. It’s raw, it makes you question you own mental well-being as you, the audience, live the struggle A and B have in acting out their shared lives. Do you ever find out the real truth? Does it matter? Not a jot, this is true theatre and a must see.

By letting the audience know from beginning that these two young people Sam and Charlie are re-enacting what has happened in their shared lives allows Bailey to break the fourth wall at important moments and the clever use of repetition and switches of perspective and mood are dealt with to dramatic and moving effect. This is play that warns about its subject matter in the pre-show blurb which is right as this is a powerful piece. Possibly one of the closest explorations of mental issues on stage since ‘The Curious incident of the Dog in Night-time’. It's that good.

As A /Sam, Tessa Wong brings a sincerity and warmth as she tries to make everything ‘ok’. The struggle A has in trying to get B to be ‘ok’ is beautifully handled and totally believable.
As B/Charlie, Daniel Crespin is utterly brilliant his switches of moods and ages are spot on, and you can see him living the words as if he was creating them.

Staged in a black box on a steamy night in Islington with the joyful noise of people drinking in the courtyard just outside adds to the experience. The play feels like a pressure cooker and the voices outside felt like life going on that you as the audience had become detached from. Hal Darling set is of course minimal for this type of production but was perfect too. With quick turnarounds suspending items is difficult. Darling instead creating weightless objects on tall black plinths giving a sense of items on exhibit and perfectly matching with the surreal storytelling, enhanced by Cheng Keng’s lighting. Keng also manages to get the switches of location and time to work extremely well in such a small venue.

My only criticism would be its title, not that its not appropriate but that it is difficult to remember when wanting to recommend it to others.

As Director, Lucy Betts has created a clarity and simplicity that perfectly matches the writing and the space. This is a play that demands to be seen by a wider audience, so hopefully ChewBoy Productions will take it further. It’s powerful, its truthful and like all great theatre makes you question your place in Society today.