End of the Line
★★★☆☆ Light-hearted
Augustine United Church: Fri 15 – Mon 18 November 2024.
Review by Sophie Good
Theatre Paradok make a whimsical exploration of impending nuclear disaster in End of the Line, at the Augustine United Church on George IV Bridge until Monday 18 November.
Alice Humphries writes and directs a cast of six in this comedy drama set on a London tube train which makes an unscheduled stop when an imminent nuclear event is announced. The six are thrown together for the final hour of their lives – to contemplate the decisions they have made before they are cut short.
Liam Howie, Reuben Stickland, Nina Birbeck, Hugo Donnelly, Raphaella Hawkins and Ava Godfrey. Pic: Alba McGowan
Amy, played by Raphaella Hawkins is considering her ‘nice’ posh boy boyfriend Miles (Reuben Stickland) and whether she has made some safe but unadventurous choices. By extraordinary coincidence she is joined by her ex, Ben, (Hugo Donnelly) who has returned from a musical tour of Utah playing the fiddle, a far cry from the rock star life star he’d been striving for.
Joining them are a somewhat dissatisfied and neurotic primary school teacher Clarissa played by Nina Birbeck and a nefarious politician played by Ava Godfrey. All five inhabit their characters well, albeit from a fairly two-dimensional perspective, and their dilemmas and priorities in life are clearly drawn.
conventional
Liam Howie as train conductor Darren completes the picture. Having made some very conventional life choices, he longs for final burst of fun – which the other characters help him with. The resulting mimeoke dance scene forms one of the warmer if not rather irreverent parts of the play.
Liam Howie, Ava Godfrey, Raphaella Hawkins and Nina Birbeck. Pic: Alba McGowan
There are some clear inconsistencies around use of the space. We are to believe they are trapped in a Northern line tube carriage and yet the space in which the six characters inhabit appears to be somewhat uninhibited by this. They are free to come and go as they wish and it is even large enough to accommodate a full song-and-dance number.
Which would fine, but here is no sense of claustrophobia which might otherwise dictate the staging. It is also unclear as to why the rest of the train is apparently empty.
inconsistency
This leads to the other inconsistency – in terms of the time frame. The characters are informed that in one hour there will be a nuclear explosion and yet the amount of time they have remaining is only mentioned once. Given this is the literal ticking bomb in the piece, it is given somewhat of a back seat which diffuses any tension that could have been created.
Raphaella Hawkins, Liam Howie, Hugo Donnelly, Nina Birbeck and Ava Godfrey. Pic: Alba McGowan
Twenty five minutes into the play, there is an interval which we are informed will last for 15 minutes but in fact the actors reappear six minutes later. Given the whole piece is around 55 minutes long, more tension and pace could have been created by foregoing an interval altogether and gathering more momentum towards the big boom.
This is very much a light-hearted treatment of what could be a fairly bleak situation and subject. There are plenty of laughs and some moments of joy. The downside of this is that it appears somewhat incongruous that our characters accept their fate with such conviviality. More comedy than drama but performed with high energy and commitment and with some pertinent themes.
Running time: 55 minutes (including one interval)
Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL
Fri 15 – Mon 18 November 2024.
Fri, Sun/Mon: 7.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Ava Godfrey, Liam Howie, Nina Birbeck and Reuben Stickland standing with Hugo Donnelly and Raphaella Hawkins. Pic: Alba McGowan
ENDS
