New writing is always difficult, comedy even more so, and it’s very rare that a student-written comedy consistently brings home the funny. In this case, however, I am delighted to be able to inform you that We’ll Meet Again does just that.
Set against a backdrop of economic crises, a looming World War III and hurricanes in Wales, the comedy couldn’t get much blacker, and the menagerie of grotesques doesn’t disappoint, from gin-soaked housewives and vaudevillian vagrants to apocalyptic overlord wannabes. The street-level view of armageddon makes the show feel like a kitchen-sink Dr. Strangelove, and the subtle nods to the film (including of the Strangelove version of When Johnny Comes Marching Home) will delight those familiar with it.
At the centre of it all, the middle-class Fairfax family are conveyed with confidence and a firm grasp of timing. Lotty Davies, playing aspiring alcoholic homemaker Gill, seems at home in the role and in her best moments is possessed of a sarcasm and acerbic wit that one cannot help but relish. Her pedantic husband Richard is played with pencil-straightening repression by Amyus Bale; and Katie Borg, playing the daughter, is so convincing as a stroppy, annoying teenager that there are moments when one is tempted to jump on stage and slap her.
The show-stealer, however, was Nicolas Pierce as Steven, their lodger, a man who is not so much square as he is composed entirely of right angles. He is portrayed with such a pathetic, nervous awkwardness that one isn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or just give him a hug, especially when confronted with his Michaela Don playing Catherine, his foil in a later scene. He is, in a word, funny.
Credit must also be given to Tom Hathaway and Joe Dunlop, who form a superb double act as Eric & Dave, setting up to be leaders in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Andrew Wilkinson plays Donald, the exuberant tramp, with an engaging air of nonchalance, although occasionally he could do with reigning in some of the excess energy.
The pop culture references fly thick and fast, whether discussing Bruce Willis’ place in the book of Revelations or simply quoting large chunks of Watchmen. This can be viewed as a positive or a negative depending on your own comedic sensibilities.
There are of course areas that could do with some work: the show has little in the way of genuine plot, feeling more like a setting in which to place the funny, but slightly disjointed scenes.
Overall, however, We’ll Meet Again is well worth seeing and, as first years, I think the writers “Stanley and Vera” (Adrienne Joy and Alex du Sautoy) are definitely a pair to watch.
(four stars out of five)
We’ll Meet Again will be performed at the BT, 9.30, 26-30 May
