What is the worst thing you’ve ever done? And what are the consequences you think you deserve for it? These are some of the questions which The Gift by Dave Florez seeks to answer.
Colin is bereft, having received a beautifully packaged human excrement in the post. Unbeknownst to who it may have come from, Colin (Nicholas Burns), his sister Lisa (Laura Haddock) and his brother in law Brian (Alex Price) are subject, throughout the play, to a psychologically tormenting game of “who did it?” As the gift in question continues to anguish Colin, paranoia takes hold and domestic instability bubbles at the surface. More complex than meets the eye, this brilliantly absurd plot has the potential to travel to some truly dark places.
Burns’ performance spanned a wide emotional range, veering from the tormented and fragile paranoid victim to the ego-centrist contrarian victor. Burns offered a nuanced character interpretation, which not only complimented the scripts natural humour but tapped into the genuine emotional turmoil which the character suffered and plot required. Particularly stirring when in his most dishevelled state, Burns found genuine vulnerability and empathy in Colin’s flaws. Brian, often satirical comic relief and occasional truth-teller, acted as a foil to Colin’s distress. Sardonic, steadfast and playful, Price formed a character which was a fan-favourite from the offset. As his performance grew and the details of his domestic life became further exposed, Price handled the transition from joker to grounded character well, though more room for character growth felt needed. Haddock playing Lisa, type A and emotionally reserved, offered a different dynamic to the stage. An ‘odd couple’ dynamic was established which Haddock leaned into to keep her audience engaged. Between the couple, however, the domestic instability at the heart of this absurd script wasn’t given authentic space to breathe. Used primarily as a punchline and not hitting the more serious notes, the stakes were not as high as they could have been.
Despite this, there was a chemistry between the three strong performers which cannot be denied, powering the comic nature of the script and ultimately maintaining its grounding in reality. Directionally, however, through both set and performance there was a ‘sitcom-esque’ quality to the play which meant more vulnerable moments weren’t fully realised. The action of the play took place in one room, Colin’s flat, lit clinically and designed without much evidence of genuine human life. Not dissimilar from an Ikea show-room, it was difficult to imagine the space as somewhere which a neurotic individual like Colin would actually live. Despite some efforts to clutter the stage with litter when his inner turmoil needed a physical embodiment, the aesthetic choices offered little to the action of the show, which was a shame given its singular location. Paired with the sitcom-esque staging vision, thought the performances were strong and nuanced, they didn’t fully realised the dry humour of the script. A gag a minute, Florez’s writing was cynically brilliant. However, through performance, some of the jokes felt overplayed. As such, dead-pan humour in the performance would have lent itself far better to the script, ridding the play of predictability and letting some of its darker themes rise to the surface more prominently. Here, bringing realism into the farcical and absurdist dynamic on stage would have allowed us to truly feel the weight of what, for Colin in particular, was at stake.
Ultimately, The Gift was a truly amusing, absurd and enjoyable piece of theatre with a strong cast and exciting premise. Though I enjoyed the play and would recommend to anyone looking for a laughter filled evening of theatre, I wish the performance had engaged with some of the grifter philosophical themes within the script head on. Had it done so, the play would have offered a lot more stimulation than just tickling a funny-bone.
Running until 1st March, buy tickets here: https://parktheatre.co.uk/event/the-gift/
Reviewer: Sadie Pearson
Reviewed: 28th January 2025
North West End UK Rating:
50 years ago, the late, great Freddie Mercury and his fellow Queen bandmates put the…
As part of Manipulate Festival, and screened in the gorgeous interior of The French Institute,…
For fans of classic British comedy it’s all cushty as Paul Whitehouse reprises his West…
What is human nature? How similar are our needs to those of the animals around…
Spell-binding, sublime performance by the the six-strong strings of the Scottish Ensemble, accompanied by the…
Gabbie Cook’s attempt to turn something rotten and corrosive from her childhood into something positive…