Taking a Love Pill at the End of the World – Hope Theatre, Islington

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

Writer & Director: Sam Smithson

“Intimate & Imaginative“

4.5 / 5

There are 367 days until the end of the world. Tom and Igg have been together since their early twenties but the love they once felt for each other is slowly dying out – much like the planet itself. The question is, do they want to spend the final days of their lives together or break apart and pursue their passions while they still have the opportunity.  

Igg (Charlotte East) and Tom (James Baxter-Derrington) used to be happy, but now their time together is filled with couples therapy and stilted conversations. Tom sits around the house all day, occasionally working on the script that he hopes will make him a successful playwright. Igg throws herself into work, fed up with their failing dynamic and furious at the chain of events that have taken them to this point. But all hope isn’t lost – they’ve been offered the chance of a pill to help them fall back in love, a groundbreaking new treatment that is proven to get a relationship back on track. Tom’s eager to repair the cracks in their fragile pairing, thinking of it no differently than pills to keep depression at bay, but Igg is apprehensive – not wanting to force a manufactured connection in place of genuine feelings. Together, they have a choice to make, but as the world quickly burns around them, they have no time to get it wrong.  

Writer and director Sam Smithson’s intimate portrayal of a relationship breakdown interspersed with an imaginative apocalyptic disaster is fabulously executed. The surreal contrasting yet parallel elements of the storyline is fantastic – one notable moment being when Tom wanders in covered in the blood that has rained down from the sky, causally recounting the people going at it outside, met with equally unaffected ambivalence from Igg. The world ending would normally be exaggerated and amplified, but it’s this quiet indifference alongside the relatable flatline of the dwindling relationship that makes this unique script truly shine.  

Alongside Smithson’s wonderful script, are two equally wonderful actors who perfectly embody their characters. The pair often meander around each other wordlessly in the well-designed kitchen (Lily Cramer), cooking meals silently – their body language and mannerisms speaking volumes about the state of their relationship in each excerpt of the narrative. Their believable interactions are often quite sad and thought-provoking, yet bursts of humour cut through sporadically, re-balancing the atmospheric tension that slowly bubbles under the surface.  
 
The pacing is expertly done both in the writing and in the execution. The countdown from 367 days to the end of the world, to 14, to just 6 hours allows the audience to really delve into the pairs relationship, while simultaneously witnessing the rapid destruction of the planet. A brilliant show that keeps the audience hooked throughout.  

Runs Until 1 June 2024 

Photo Credit: Bethany Monk-Lane