A Love-Letter for London

London is a metropolis a city that sometimes doesnt mind turning the cold
shoulder towards its inhabitants, and one that can be utterly ruthless to those
who come to it seeking their fortune. Original Impact Theatre bring us an ably-
written piece of new theatre written by Megan Jenkins, which, when combined
with a hummable and toe-tappable soundtrack of popular anthems, punctuated
with a bit of physical action, and sprinkled with the odd poem, coalesces into a
love-letter to this much dreamed about city by the innumerable youths it both
mistreats and caresses.
In a series of vignettes and monologues, we follow the lives of our 6 heroes as
they trudge through a single day on the cusp of their 25 th year, dealing with the
seemingly mundane, everyday troubles of dissatisfying jobs, late tubes,
crammed elevators, the search for love and the hard-hitting loss. Clocking at
around 60 minutes with no interval, one however leaves the theatre feeling that
theyve witnessed a rather complete set of lives and a bunch of finely-etched
characters that are wonderfully true-to-life.
The show opens with gusto as the ensemble sing and then, boom, we are
perhaps slightly abruptly thrown into the fray with Kates opening monologue
as she gives us the dish on what London is really like a dream that is definitely
a hundred miles away from reality. Then we realise, that monologue was a diary
entry and actually, Kate is a writer chasing her dream. Slowly, the lives of the
ensemble begin to unfold before us, and we learn who is who and what theyre
up to and how their lives are somewhat interconnected. Elicia Murphy plays a
barista, Chrissie, who serves most of the characters, launching her into her own
rather funny, rather poignant monologue about the trials and tribulations of
customer service. She serves, Luke a banker type who is odd, awkward and
desperately trying to score a date with the cute receptionist from a couple of
floors down who tells us about how his strictly-timed journey is thrown into
disarray by a late train. There is a person under the train he repeats, two, three
times in probably the most eye-opening and true moment as he tries to wrap his
brain around the incident that is causing the delay. Will Gilham, playing Luke, is a
wonderfully natural actor, and delivers this monologue with a simplicity and a
matter-of-factness that is particularly touching. He bumps into fussy PA, Bryony
a physically-driven Jessica Kearney, who is neurotically trying to get a million
things done in the space of two minutes.
On and on, we go, deftly taken from one character to another trudging through
what seems to be a rather miserable day for all. Emelie, played by Christina
Holmbek, is a French au pair, (our only insight into a foreigners life, a very
necessary voice, I found) who moved to London after a devastating break up to
rediscover herself and graces us with the funniest vignette of the evening: a
quick whizz through what its like being a girl, a romantic and attempting to find
love on online dating apps. With a slightly dodgy French accent, it is hard to not
like Emelie a competent comedic actress. Wide-eyed and cute as a button,
Elicia a wonderfully warm actress - gives us two wonderfully rounded and ably
portrayed characters the single-mother barista working hard to earn a buck so
that she can be reunited with her baby as well as the receptionist that charms
Lukes heart in a tight elevator space.
Writer Kate, separated from her girlfriend (a very centred Christina Holmbek)
whos moved back home to take care of her sick mother, gives a sweet
performance, but perhaps the most forgettable of the piece, more due to the
writing than the performance itself, as actress POPO does her best and comes
across as rather charming but rather flat.
Everything is dotted and linked with the narrator-like Busker character, played by
the devastatingly charming Ash Goosey, who smacks us with bursts of poetic
verse, an odd but not unwelcome choice. With a sweet voice, he sings his way
through the show, providing a paroxysm of energy much needed to disguise and
punctuate the scene changes a clever device by Alexandria Anfield. The
staging is simple: the actors never leave the stage simply sitting down, as if on
a tube and supporting when its not their turn - and although while the actors
end up, infuriatingly, running in circles quite a bit and the choice of punctuating
monologues with physical exposition seemed a bit uninspired, the piece moves
swiftly and deftly and works at its best, and most touching, when it is all simple,
which it is most of the time.
Perhaps the defining moment of the piece is in a flashback to the characters 16
year-old selves, as they bicker and quarrel and shout about the most menial
things, but when the schoolteacher asks where they think theyll go in the future
it is a unanimous shout: London. At the end of the day, despite how much
anything might make you fall out of love with the city, after a pint and a good
wind-down you would never want to be anywhere but there.
Working Title is on Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 5 th August, at the Camden
Fringe.
*** out of a possible 5.
Tickets 12/10 conc.