King’s Head Theatre – until 27 April 2019
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
We’ve all looked for love in the wrong places, but Bobby (Linus Karp) is looking in pet shops and zoos. The excruciating morning-after conversations/monologues that Bobby has in his attempts to bond with his four-legged friends are painfully funny and sweet.
Rob Hayes’ script is so sensitive and unsensational, and Katherine Armitage’s direction so sympathetic, that poor Bobby’s neediness becomes (almost) understandable. You can’t help but like Bobby – even though you’d never ask him to cat sit.
Working his way through a dog, cat, goat, monkey and bear, Bobby’s reactions in the afterglow are exactly as you’d expect if there was a human in his bed. He plans their future, apologises for any comments that could be misconstrued as sexist (speciesist?) and anthropomorphises their imagined responses. Just as you begin to feel comfortable, a stark reminder of the species is thrown in – eliciting belly laughs and squirms alike. The scene with the monkey prostitute is especially well written, with Bobby imagining a grooming story for the creature that is in turns hysterical and horrifyingly familiar.
Linus Karp gives Bobby a pathetically defiant edge under the pitiful neediness and is wonderful in the moments when he thinks he has offended an animal. His body language when making gauche compliments is simply adorable. As Bobby’s past is gradually revealed, Karp becomes more and more fragile, until the final scene where the laughs dry up and the dark sadness that drives Bobby’s life is portrayed with understated but devastating skill – a simply brilliant performance that never loses its grip on the audience.
Awkward Conversations is quirky, funny and very, very moving – grab a ticket while you can.