A compelling concept searching for a bolder theatrical language.
Let’s be honest: high school is miserable for most of us. Whether you were being bullied or doing the bullying in an attempt to mask your own insecurities, it’s rarely a period we’d willingly relive. Cliques, heartbreak, social hierarchies, and friendships that make absolutely no sense in hindsight. But what if you and three people from that past woke up trapped in a locked room with a loaded gun? That’s the delicious premise behind The Cabin, playing at the Barons Court Theatre July 7th-11th.
Written by Robert Emlyn Slater and directed by Lorna Hale, The Cabin follows former classmates Benny (Max Luck), Elsie (Maisie Bagley), Ali (Adele Marie), and Matthew (Adam Walker-Kavanagh), who awaken imprisoned together under the watchful eye of unseen cameras. There are no windows, no obvious way out, and just one object in the room: a gun. The rules are simple: one of them dies, or they all do.
This setup isn’t new. Stories about strangers trapped together and forced into impossible moral choices have become a genre in themselves. Still, Slater’s script stands out thanks to its sense of humour. Matthew’s relentless commentary injects much of the evening’s comedy, and the quick dialogue keeps things moving. The mystery ends with a twist that feels modern, touches on worries about online culture, and appeals to the generation of social media.
The characters, however, remain somewhat surface-level. We quickly understand their roles within the group dynamic: Benny and Elsie are childhood sweethearts who just broke up; Ali is intense and stubborn; and Matthew is the classmate everyone forgot about, even after years together. But beyond these broad strokes, they don’t really evolve in unexpected or meaningful ways. The relationships are clear from the outset, yet the emotional journeys don’t always deepen as the circumstances become increasingly extreme. Ali is the exception to this observation, but because everything else is a little surface-level, her revelation lands as coming out of nowhere.
The performances are solid across the board, though occasionally pitched too broadly for the intimacy of the venue. Max Luck gives Benny an appealing vulnerability, capturing both his fragility and his desperate need to be loved. His portrayal of the character’s deteriorating mental health is one of the production’s more affecting elements. Adele Marie brings real energy to Ali, whose anger keeps things interesting, while Adam Walker-Kavanagh fully embraces Matthew’s dramatic side, providing plenty of laughs before guiding the character to a satisfying end. Maisie Bagley provides perhaps the production’s strongest performance, grounding the heightened premise with a naturalism that gives the piece much-needed emotional credibility.
The production struggles most in its theatrical language. The staging remains largely unchanged throughout, with the actors repeatedly circling the space in similar patterns. Combined with an absence of lighting and sound design, the result is an evening that begins to feel visually static long before the story reaches its climax. The actors are left carrying the entire atmosphere themselves, and while they work hard to sustain the tension, the lack of variation means moments that should feel explosive don’t always earn their impact.
Ironically, it’s during the final stretch– when the gun is finally fought over and genuine physical danger erupts– that the production feels most alive. The staging suddenly finds urgency, the physicality sharpens, and the threat becomes tangible. It offers a glimpse of the theatrical dynamism the rest of the evening occasionally lacks.
The script also suggests deeper emotional themes than it actually explores. For example, Benny’s past suicide attempt after his breakup with Elsie is mentioned but not really examined, even though it could have been a chance to look at men’s mental health in more detail. Likewise, Ali is repeatedly described as violent, unstable and destined for criminality, yet we learn very little about what shaped those perceptions. Since the play is interested in how our teenage years shape us, these topics seem worth exploring further.
The Cabin doesn’t change the psychological thriller genre, but it shows real potential. The main idea is strong, the cast is dedicated, and the script has moments of clever humor and modern relevance. With more creative staging and a deeper look at its characters, it could become truly memorable. For now, it’s an enjoyable show that feels like a promising step forward rather than a final product.
This show runs at X until Y. Tickets here.