Review: DOUBLE ACT, Southwark Playhouse Borough

Photo credit: Tanya Pabaru

“I have one day left, I have to do this right”. The protagonist: a twenty seven year old junior data analyst, who spends late nights at the laundrette watching the couples dining across the street. He’s single, he’s taken the day off work and he’s planning to take his own life. As he makes the journey to the Eastbourne coast, he reflects and argues with himself about what his life has become and all the events which led to this. Will he reach his final destination?

This show officially made its debut at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre in January 2024 to rave reviews and was a finalist for the Standing Ovation award for Best Two-Hander. This production marks its second run, this time in The Little at Southwark Playhouse Borough. Tackling the subject of men’s mental health, the production has partnered with charities, Trinity Homeless Project, The Mental Health Foundation and Body and Soul, to promote better awareness, care and support for those who are battling with their mental health.

Design-wise, the stage area is very stark and striking. A toy theatre box is set up at the back of the space, with white chairs on either side. This black and white aesthetic leaks onto the actors’ costumes and clown makeup, very much paying tribute to the Pierrot style of clowning that the show is inspired by. Arguably, the plainness and functionality of the props and set in the show aids the story well by allowing us to see how the protagonist sees the world around him right from the outset. There is also a sense of inner disconnect due to the cold aura created; numbness actualised in a physical context.

Nick Hyde (writer and performer) and Oliver Maynard (performer) are talented clown performers, everything from their facial expressions to their body movements are playful. To focus on their physicality is to watch young boys playing games with one another. They have us hooked, especially because it is clear to see how much these actors trust and connect with each other, which is particularly essential given the subject matter of the show.

They are so entertaining and interesting to watch even outside of the clowning aspects of the show. They fully commit to everything they’re doing, ensuring that their joint characterisation of the protagonist is both impassioned and full bodied whilst highlighting the complexities of the human psyche, especially when it comes to battling socialised male stereotypes in the current age of the crisis of masculinity.

Speaking of which, the brilliance of the show is in how subtle and sinister it is. By making us see the world through the two elements of the protagonist's personality, we get to see the sides battle to take the lead during the social interactions that the protagonist has. Additionally, because we are able to see the protagonist’s mindset in tandem with the people they encounter, we are able to see the ‘warning signs’ that the protagonist is planning to die by suicide as well as how incredibly easy these are to miss, especially because masculinity tends to promote the warped and dangerous message that strength comes from emotional stoicism.

This, in addition to the pacing, which feels so fast that it’s hard to take in or feel some of the more intentionally poignant moments, means that whilst the show doesn’t feel particularly emotionally evocative to us at all, we can still appreciate it because it asks more questions than it answers and doesn’t offer any judgements on anyone. It is a very neutral show in this sense, it doesn’t deny or deter nor does it condemn. It simply says that there is a crisis going on that we need to wake up and pay attention to. To improve, this show could vary the pacing to allow the audience to feel the emotional energy and tension it aspires to invoke.

However, if anything, this creation of a neutral voice is what is likely to spark more conversations because it makes the subject of suicide safe and accessible to talk about and, in making the protagonist a nondescript man, it allows for the idea that the protagonist could be anyone. It invites us to ask the people around us if they are really okay whilst showing an understanding that, given the predominant lack of education around mental health conversations, talking about mental health, especially suicide, is really really difficult. It can feel impossible to ask for help, if asking is seen as admitting fragility and weakness, especially in male identifying communities.

But the show also argues that not talking about it is just exacerbating the problem, especially considering how shockingly high the suicide rate in the UK is.

Electric but realistic. Emotionally stunted. A show which is urgent and vitally needed.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Megan O’Neill

Double Act plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 5 April, with further info here.