Drowning – Royal Court Studio

Oldham Coliseum Theatre Associate Artists Dare to Know Theatre revive their sell out debut play, Drowning.

The play centres around Josh, a teenager as British as they come, who starts the play by telling us how selfish suicide is and giving the audience a description of his teenage life. Sex, alcohol, bullies and multiple girlfriends are all par for the course in Josh’s life, but this starts to unravel for Josh, whose world views are challenged rather quickly.

Jake Talbot writes and stars, and the key concepts and moments of the story are poignant, clear and relatable. The teenager on the stage this evening was one that we all recognise. The story was gritty, real world and told with clarity – the audience were hooked into it from lights up.

Talbot delivered high energy, clarity and a well-defined caricature of teenage Josh to make him so recognisable.

The freneticism of the performance struck one chord throughout most of the play, with very little else offered. A more broad and balanced performance could have made the poignant moments more effective. It was difficult to sympathise with Josh when there was so little time in the frantic performance to digest those key moments.

The choices of transitional music helped to develop the mood and slow the pace, and these moments offered some opportunity for the audience to decompress from the intensity of the acting performance. They were beautifully selected.

Congratulations to Talbot and Dare to know Theatre. The Royal Court theatre continues to be one of the absolute forefront venues in the north west, with fantastic staff and constant strong offerings.

Reviewer: Andrew Lee

Reviewed: 10th March 2023

North West End UK rating: ★★★