An entertaining double-bill of drama
Lost & Found presents two 30-minute shows from a company of recent LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) graduates. Soultide unfolds on a private yacht, where a band’s hopes of hitting the big-time crumble amidst imploding personal relationships. VOICE follows recently-enrolled drama students whose homework is to devise and perform a piece revealing something personal about themselves. Both interrogate themes of growing up, insecurity and the untidiness of human relationships to make for a highly watchable hour of entertainment.
Soultide opens lightheartedly with bickering bandmates (and their manager) simmering in the sun. The group teeters on the brink of explosion, with the touchpaper lit by a simple hypothetical: what would you do if the band no longer existed? As the tension builds, the comedy of this comedy-drama gives way to accusations, allegations and fallings out.
The drama outshines the comedy here, with Evie Day particularly compelling as the rich and privileged Tara. Arguments are well-written, flinging barbs back and forth, and engagingly paced. Each character’s motivations are well thought-out and they are easy to empathise with. The ending, however, loses much of this subtlety and feels a little rushed.
VOICE uses a lesson at drama school as a framing device for a series of dramatic monologues – they do say to write about what you know! This is the more conceptually interesting piece, offering opportunities for interplay between the characters and the people they play in their monologues. The cast handle their own lighting (as if in a drama school classroom and having to swivel lights as you need them), which has a very organic and surprisingly compelling effect.
Milly Thorpe stands out as the anxious but charismatic Jaz, setting the tone for the show with her panic upon being selected to perform. More moments like this would have allowed the audience to get to know the characters before they perform individually. As it is, there is sometimes a lack of connection between audience and character, rendering the stories a little disjointed and diminishing their emotional impact.
Both tackling messy human relationships, Soultide and VOICE offer authentic perspectives on young adulthood – as you would expect from productions written, directed and performed by new adults themselves. Whilst several of the cast pull double-duty – in addition to the aforementioned Evie Day, Lucy Gant nails both of her roles – each show is distinct in tone and execution.
Lost & Found is an excellent way for many of the cast and wider crew to make their professional debuts. Fresh, interesting and engaging stories work in tandem to say something about the human experience of kinship. Given these performances, there are exciting things in store for many of the graduates on this stage.
Lost & Found plays at the Etcetera Theatre until August 25th. Tickets can be purchased here.