There are ninety-minute no-interval shows that feel like double shifts, and then there are ninety-minute no-interval shows like Double Act, which leave one feeling slightly short-changed, but only because ninety minutes really felt like forty-five. It’s not clear precisely why the twenty-eight-year-old central character, shared between two actors (who also play various other characters such as the young man’s manager at work, his mother, a railway ticket inspector, his former partner, and so on), has resolved to end it all. He hasn’t lost his job, although his manager is concerned about the number of recent absences, but nonetheless he’s simply had enough.
This is a London play for a London audience: I had my fill of working with people from all over the country whilst working remotely for a non-ministerial government department during the pandemic (I had to fill my time with something as theatre shows, and therefore theatre reviews, weren’t happening). Very few from outside London and the south-east would consider a commute of longer than half an hour tolerable. All this to point out that here, the man’s journey begins with a fifteen-minute walk to the nearest Underground station: it’s a testament to Nick Hyde’s writing as well as Hyde’s and Oliver Maynard’s performances that even this is made remarkably entertaining.
The portrayal of everyday life somehow made for riveting viewing. I sensed the frustration of using an unforgiving self-service supermarket checkout as the man was instructed to remove an ‘unexpected item from the bagging area’ only to get a second instruction that the transaction could not continue because an item had been removed from the said bagging area. There were other examples, too, in what became a show that combined observational comedy with an internal dilemma: both last to the very last page of the script.
Elements of absurdism add to the evening’s entertainment, and while the use of microphones wasn’t strictly necessary in a studio space, it was mercifully never overbearingly loud. The distinction was clear between ‘actual’ interactions with others and the amplification, literally and metaphorically, of the central character’s thought processes. The two actors work hard, for sure, but it didn’t feel that way. It all looked relatively effortless (even though it wasn’t).
This wasn’t the first show to highlight what can happen if only men would open up a bit more and discuss their problems (the return of Dear England to the National Theatre recently being a case in point), and it won’t be the last. Few such shows, however, will contain nearly as much amusement from mundane and conventional daily deeds as this one. A thoughtful, energetic and humorous production.
Review by Chris Omaweng
When a man takes the day off work and travels to the West Sussex coast with the intention of ending his life, he shifts back and forth between interactions with his boss, mum, ex-girlfriend and various strangers, and his inner conflict between his warring thoughts as he grapples with his crushing disappointment at how his life has turned out. Inspired by sad clowns such as Pierrot and classic comedy double acts like Laurel and Hardy, the two competing sides of the protagonist’s personality argue back and forth, with one desperate to reach the final destination, and the other finding reasons to delay what is looming. Mixing clowning with physical comedy, dark humour and classic two-handed play, Double Act explores destructive self-talk and the redemptive power of listening amongst men today.
Cast: Nick Hyde and Oliver Maynard
Writer – Nick Hyde
Director – Jef Hall-Flavin
Set Designer – Christophe Eynde
Lighting Designer – Holly Ellis
Sound Designer – Frederick Waxman
Stage and Production Manger – Jasmin Meara Wall
DOUBLE ACT
Southwark Playhouse Borough, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
19 March to 5 April 2025
