Have I None – Golden Goose Theatre, Camberwell

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

Writer: Edward Bond

Director: Lewis Frost

“Drab, Dismal, Dull”

1.5 / 5

~This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub ~

The year is 2077 – history has been abolished in an attempt to not be repeated. Photographs are illegal, domesticity is rigid and consumerism is non-existent. Government -issued furniture scarcely fills cold, empty houses devoid of love and laughter. Security patrols the streets to make sure people are following the strict, inflexible rules. Mass suicides are rife, constantly taking away huge numbers of the population and forever scarring the people who witness the gruesomely horrific acts of harm.

Sara (Abigail Stone) and Jams (Brad Leigh) are unhappily married, trudging through their days as a matter of routine. Jams is one of the Government security guards ensuring law is enforced both in and out of the home. Sara is fraught with anxiety at the sound of the door constantly knocking, worried that her imagination is the beginning of her unravelling. When a mysterious stranger arrives claiming to be her brother Grit (Paul Brayward), carrying a forbidden photograph, memories are stirred and their futures are changed forever.

The intriguing premise in Edward Bond’s one-act play paints a tense authoritarian future, but director Lewis Frost’s execution of the show in the Golden Goose Theatre only seems to capture the drab and dismal, resulting in a very dull outcome. Many of the points within the script that can be heightened or dramatized further for shock value are, instead, paced too quickly, appearing rushed rather than conveying the sense of urgency or excitement that is required. The aspiring elements of comedy such as the chair debacle fall flat, amplifying the awkward silences amongst the sparse set.

Brayward plays the mysterious stranger well, conveying the right amount of suspense throughout the strange, fever dream style storyline. Stone and Leigh start strong, with an interesting relationship dynamic, but veer into overacting at many points in the latter half of the performance, steering the audience away from the storyline, taking it to a level beyond farcical and instead eliminating both the comedy and dramatic aspects from the piece.

If the aim of the performance is to heighten a feeling of confusion, depression and dissatisfaction, then it is delivered in abundance. Unfortunately, not the dystopian drama expected, but instead a festering 50 minutes of frustration.

Runs until 28 January 2023