A fast-paced black comedy that does not shy away from pain, but ultimately offers hope
Super successful property developer, Saskia, is in a meeting and about to sign the biggest contract of her career. She is funny, charming and ready to strike gold. She is good-looking, athletic and at the peak of her physical fitness. She knows this and we, the audience, know this because she tells us this. The only problem with this is, she has left the meeting, and she is running away.
Union is a black comedy from Max Wilkinson who returns to the Arcola Theatre following great success with his play RAINER. In Union, we follow Saskia on a run through various neighbourhoods and suburbs of London. She encounters friends and strangers, friendly and unfriendly, sharing life stories, talking about current issues and defending her company’s plans to redevelop parts of the city.
The minimalist design by Kit Hinchcliffe of the Arcola Theatre studio space, brings together elements of the city: clothes rails depicting commerce, open mic nights in old pubs, street benches in parks. The piece drives forward at immense pace and manages to capture the chaos of London before pausing for smaller, more intimate moments.
Dominique Tipper commands the space with her presence as Saskia. From fierce monologues to tragic character unravelling’s, the stage is her playground and she effortlessly switches between intense breaking of the fourth-wall and quieter scenes with numerous characters, all played by the other two cast members.
Sorcha Kennedy is particularly skilled at transitioning between a wide range of characters, passing each of them off as totally believable. Similarly, Andre Bullock captures both the pressure imposed by a boss and the warmth of an old friend. The comedy shines when the three of them play against each other – there’s a particularly funny satirical scene when Saskia comes upon a group of ‘trendy people’ in an artist’s loft. But this is dark comedy and there is a definite sense that we are watching a character falling apart, as denoted by the sudden shifts in tone.
These shifts are masterfully directed by Wiebke Green, who utilises Martha Godfrey’s inventive lighting and Julian Starr’s atmospheric soundscapes to maintain the pace of the piece as it builds momentum, whilst signalling to the audience where they are at any given moment. After 80 minutes straight through you come away feeling as though you’ve been on a journey.
Wilkinson is commenting on the gentrification of London through the stories of people it affects. He does not shy away from the pain it is causing, but he offers hope that ‘you can always change things. If you really want to, you can change it.’
Union is running at the Arcola Theatre until 12 August.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCI0ezw3C-8
Review by Gabriel Curteis (@gabrielcurteis)