Review: LATELY, Proforca Theatre Company - Old Joint Stock Birmingham

Written by James Lewis and directed by David Brady, Lately is a two hander play that tells us the story of Callum and Alison, in their own words.

The problem with living in ‘Shithole-by-the-sea’ is that no matter how hard you try to get away, it always pulls you back. Even though they were supposed to be a part of each other’s lives forever, the universe never quite let it happen that way and when Alison returns to the town she ran away from, to find out what happened to the boy she left behind, it’s not the happy ending she had anticipated.

Containing themes of mental health, physical abuse, and suicide, it’s a real life take on a story that could be any of us or anyone that we know.

With few props and no set, the focus of the direction is on the stories of the two characters and their collective journeys. You would expect a lot of the text and the topics covered to be quite internalised, but both actors are led to express them, almost as if they are unburdening themselves to us, their counsellors.

Fred Wardale plays Callum, the troubled boy who struggles with the life he has lived and is living and the future that he just can’t see for himself. It’s a balanced portrayal, with just the right amount of internal struggle and introverted behaviours, but also enough clear storytelling that we recognise his battle.

Alison is played by Lauren Ferdinand, a good storyteller, as she paints a clear image of her not so ideal life and how the two accidentally became friends to begin with. Her feelings of guilt at knowing that doing the right thing for herself means abandoning her closest friend, at the exact time he needs her the most, is clear.

Lately is a sensitive, possibly triggering, realisation that to save yourself, you can’t save others.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

For more information about the show, please click here.