A fleeting moment of affection in Honey/Baby

The opening play, Clam lulls the audience into a false sense of security with its fish tank stage decor and opening sounds of gently bubbling water. It traps three couples in a fish bowl, swerving in and out of their relationships and situations. Each man and woman try desperately to connect with each other despite various age old barriers, and the laughter which this complete failure of communication initially provokes quickly fades into shocked and thoughtful silence. Emma West is darkly terrific as the female in these relationships, beautifully pulling off a character who embodies the struggle and desperation of, one feels, generations of the entirety of womankind.

The dark ending of Clam is counteracted by the sketch-show-funny opening of Honey/Baby. A disastrous Middle England marriage is portrayed brilliantly by Chloe Thorpe and Stephen Cheriton, who succeed in giving depth and personality to two perhaps overly familiar caricatures. The determined battle to deny their marital strife serves as a direct contrast to the background relationship of Pavel and Ella, two yuppy urbanites who are no longer pretending that they don’t “want you to be someone else”.

Like Clam, Honey Baby’s initially humorous set up soon descends into shocking script and raw emotion, but unlike Clam, this second work is less grounded in gender politics. Their juxtaposition results in a concrete and deep dissection of human relationships as a whole, a process which is made infinitely harder to stomach by the close quarters at which the theatre places its audience and actors.

The Levy double bill should be considered a triumph for PapaC, making use of a brilliantly talented young cast and a visionary and brave young director, Nadia Papachronopoulou. A gripping and intense production which is thoroughly entertaining, Clam and Honey/Baby are a must see.

Clam and Honey/Baby is playing at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington, until  7^th March.

www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk