Writer: Sam Holcroft
Director: Feiyang Yang
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Dystopian Drama”
4 / 5
In a world where words are controlled and the state have eyes on you at all times, even something as simple as a telling a story can be a dangerous activity.
Adem (Cameron Jones) and Mei (Katie Francis) know this all too well, having to go to extreme lengths of pretending they’re getting married in order to perform an underground theatre show about their experiences with the Department of Culture. Desperate to get their message out to the masses they, alongside renowned writer Bax (Peter Molloy) and government official Čelik (Georgie Ashby), take their show all over the country, disguised with fake wedding licenses and an eye constantly on the door to make sure they don’t get rumbled and locked away for not adhering to the approved, state commissioned narrative.
Sam Holcroft’s dystopian drama is wonderfully gripping, balancing the unnerving severity of government power with the cleverly crafted characters as they evolve and change throughout the storyline. Yang’s direction elicits slightly more humour from the script, in comparison to when I last saw it performed at Trafalgar Theatre, which works wonderfully well in breaking up some of the tension and allowing the pacing to flow better, with the occasional elements of light relief. The shifts between the “wedding” and the production are done brilliantly, and the nerves as they suspect they may have been caught are so well done that there’s a part of you that struggles not to panic alongside them!
Ashby’s depiction of Čelik is captivating – ensuring that Čelik’s intensity and seniority is constantly present. Francis plays Mei with a stoic seriousness, nodding to Mei’s time in the forces, occasionally allowing her curiosity or frustration against the regime to shine through. Jones gives Adem a fantastic naivety, where the audience are never 100% sure whether Adem knows exactly what he’s doing or he’s really just so new to it all that he’s not considered the ramifications of his work, making him a brilliantly ambiguously duplicitous character. Molloy as the cocky, charming famed writer is great, and his short stint as a wedding singer is very humorous.
As the story unfolds, the audience quickly realise that nothing is as it seems, and the excellently entertaining ending with the strict, and quite terrifying Senior Officer (Helen McGill) delivers a satisfying culmination to the enjoyable production.
Runs until 10th October 2026
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