Relatable, while still being tongue-in-cheek
Full ashtrays, empty bottles, dirty dishes, laundry that’s been hung up for too long and is definitely dry, and an eerie sense that you’re wasting your youth – welcome to Brixton. Or rather, welcome to the living room of the Brixton houseshare that is the setting of Albie Marber’s Barbies and Drillas.
The characterisation of the five flatmates is relatable, while still being tongue-in-cheek. There seems to be an awareness in Marber’s writing of the privilege the characters are unaware of while they verbally spar as to who has it worse. Watching Kerr Louden’s William (low-level political underling) and Evan Moynihan’s Raff (wannabe novelist) argue is like watching Dexter from One Day and JP from Fresh Meat have a face-off (in a good way). Tegan Noble, as Lottie, is brilliantly comedic when making witty comments from behind her vape, but also strikes a thoughtful chord when she takes a pause from her online meetings to offer advice to the others. Isobel Twist, as the highly-strung Poppy, is the convincing reality check the rest need – I only wish I had seen more of her narratively. My personal highlight, however, was Oliver Hatfield’s Laurie – perpetual art student, and de facto landlord. The rise and fall of his character is brilliantly and hilariously handed.
This is a play that certainly relies on strength of the performer’s individual dynamics, but I did find myself searching for the heart of the piece – and struggling to find it. Add in a rather confusing twist towards the end with an unseen antagonist, and the tragic downturn doesn’t quite hit the mark. But it is thoughtfully wrapped up in the final scene, and poses the age-old question that haunts all twenty-somethings; ‘Would I still be friends with you if we met now?’ Barbies and Drillas doesn’t seek to give you an answer – they’re still figuring it out, too.