Review: DOUBLE ACT, Lion and Unicorn Theatre
Currently playing to sold-out audiences in Kentish Town’s Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Nick Hyde’s first full-length play Double Act is all the evidence you need that London’s fringe theatre scene is alive and thriving. This production exemplifies everything that is brilliant about pub theatres and why they need to be treasured and preserved as a home of new talent and new writing.
Double Act follows a crucial day in the life of one man, played in a tag-team by both Nick Hyde and Oliver Maynard. Without wanting to give too much away, this is an intense black comedy and morbidly clownish depiction of existential crisis and mental health. On an ostensibly mundane journey across London, we see Hyde and Maynard unravel as the pressures of city life, personal and professional disappointments weigh heavily on the conscience until it is almost too much to bear.
Hyde's writing is taut and consistently maintains a quivering and dreadful tension. The dialogue and observational comedy about London life is keenly witty - Hyde has a sharp eye and ear for comedy, and furthermore boasts an extensive knowledge of the McDonald’s menu.
Hyde and Maynard are a staggering duo onstage. Under Jef Hall-Flavin's direction, they bounce between characters, zippy overlapping dialogue and absurd physical comedy with confident ease. This piece is brilliantly paced and elegantly shaped, with moments of poignancy that cut through the otherwise hilarious dialogue. In one particular scene, Hyde's embodiment of a kind Scottish lady on a train is so achingly gentle it brings us to tears. Maynard, too, is astonishingly elastic in his performance; effortlessly funny throughout the show; his contrasting raw anger in the final scene is nothing short of gut-wrenching.
This is a powerful debut. At a time of year that prompts reflection, introspection and often pushes people towards dark thoughts and low moods, this is an important and poignant reminder to be kind, not only to yourself but to others around you - friends and strangers alike.
There is a lot of heart, warmth and depth in Hyde's writing and we’re excited to see more of what he has to offer.
Cross your fingers and pray that this production gets another, longer run that it so richly deserves.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett
Double Act plays at London’s Lion and Unicorn Theatre until 13 January, with further information here.