Have You Took The Bins Out? – Drayton Arms Theatre, South Kensington

Writer: Orson Bourne 
Director: Emma McAllister

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

“Messy”

2.5 / 5

Zsazsa and her partner have just moved into a brand new home and find out on moving day that they’re also expecting a baby. So many exciting milestones should mean that the pair are overjoyed and excited for the upcoming months – but their relationship is far from perfect, and the thought of raising a child sends Man into a spiral about his own upbringing within the care system.

Bourne’s script is a busy one, cramming way too many characters and narrative threads into a very short space of time, meaning that at many moments the production is confusing and chaotic, with a muddled identity that is never fully committed to. The first 45 minutes is farcical and soap opera style in nature, the absurdist, abstract humour focusing on the varying connections and histories held by the myriad of characters. Zsazsa (Eloise Thody) and Man’s (Orson Bourne) unexpected pregnancy, the washing machine delivery man (Jay-Jay Alexander) and Zsazsa’s past relationship, the Texan busybody neighbour Ms Bakewell (Grace Boag-Matthews), Zsazsa’s parents (Frank Cawley & Emma McAllister) and their impending divorce, Zsazsa’s addiction history, Man’s best friend Charlie (Anna Vera Derschmidt) and his failing business. It’s a lot of content thrown at the audience very quickly, without sufficiently establishing any of the characters outside of their respective plot point, making it hard to invest into any of their struggles or pathways.

Alongside this, are brief interludes away from the characters mentioned, focusing on social workers (played by the same cast members) discussing various cases that they are investigating and the subsequent care plan for said child. It’s unclear if the social workers are just talking about generic cases, to highlight the state of the care system, or whether these are supposed to be notes in relation to any of the already introduced characters, but either way they are interesting, sadly realistic, and intentionally frustrating, to showcase the box ticking exercises of social work, rather than actually utilising their experience and resources to help the vulnerable children at hand.

The second 45 minutes of the show, take a completely different turn, abandoning the humour almost entirely and becoming quite serious and intense. It almost feels as though these were two different ideas for the storyline, and rather than focusing on one and creating that, Bourne has instead merged both together, which doesn’t quite work within it’s current iteration. Despite the very serious subject matters being discussed, from familial child abuse, neglect and the mental health impact on adults that have grown up in care, the severity never fully lands, because there’s a constant rush to get to the next scene. At one point Man reveals some heart-breaking, very tender information about his childhood to Zsazsa, which is expected to lead onto a more in depth conversation, but it’s quickly skipped over and barely even acknowledged, which is not only unrealistic, but a frustratingly missed opportunity.

On the evening reviewed, there was a slight cast change, with director Emma McAllister stepping in as Zsazsa’s father and as a social worker. Despite being on book (which often is cleverly made to look more like a prop), she does a wonderful job of remaining natural and comedic. The cast as a whole do well to quickly shift between the multiple characters and frequent scene changes, constantly focused and well rehearsed. With the characters being purposefully unlikeable, the cast ensure that the flaws of each character are well showcased (Zsazsa being uncaring and standoffish, pretentious Gertrude, nosy and intrusive Ms Bakewell etc), making these traits central to their personalities throughout the performance.

Much like the frequent references in the narrative to the bin strike and the evergrowing piles of rubbish littered around outside the couple’s new home – the production is, as it stands, quite messy, and needs some tidying up to really hone in on the intriguing and important focus of the care system and the impact on the children within it, because currently these messages are hidden under mountains of narrative debris.

Runs until 25th July 2026