A macabre comedy that leaves a confusing aftertaste
The Grim is a three person play performed with minimal set dressing and in two 30-minute halves with an interval between. It tells the story of two undertakers, one a believer of the supernatural and the other a sceptic who teases his colleague for his superstitions. They both begin to question their mindsets when today’s corpse, a supposed serial killer is on the slab, and he’s not as dead as they would have hoped…
The biggest strength of this play is the performances from the leads. Ed Morris and Louis Davison, put on a committed and passionate showing, making these somewhat stereotypical 80s characters feel life-like, well-rounded. The chemistry between their characters comes naturally, which gently pulls the audience in. Our third lead, Harry Carter, who comes to life in the second act, as the rage-filled antagonist Jackie Gallagher, deftly creates a tense and uneasy atmosphere which compels the audience further. The three are energetic on stage, bouncing off one another, and building the tension together.
Another strength lies in the simplicity of the set. The sterile, white tiles and metal undertakers table in an otherwise black room help with the claustrophobic and imposing feeling that the play wants to create. The lighting and sound is used well to ramp up the tension and feeling of a ghostly presence.
Unfortunately, while there are moments of genuine comedy and horror, at points the script doesn’t marry the genres together well, and the unexplained elements in the plot feel like there is a lack of clarity about what the show wants to be. The first half spends far too long on the jokey bantering of the two leads, which isn’t as funny as it should be for so much time spent on it, and then when we do get going with the horror, the interval after only 30 minutes means the audience isn’t kept in that uneasy tension which they worked so well to create. The break is unnecessary and makes the show feel more disjointed than it would if it was an hour straight through.
The second half is more compelling and there are moments where I laughed out loud and felt scared in my seat in equal measure. But there isn’t enough time in the script to show who the antagonist Jackie Gallagher really is – with the narrative switching rapidly between victim of a stitch-up or crazed killer, which means that the conclusion feels confused and one leaves the theatre just sort of thinking…what?
This isn’t to say that The Grim isn’t worth seeing. It will make you laugh, it will make you feel scared, and you will enjoy the acting of the performers. But sadly, there’s just something lacking, that leaves a confusing aftertaste, that lingers after the show ends.