White Bear Theatre, Kennington – until 3 August 2024
Reviewed by Emily Smith
2**
The Box, written by Brian Coyle and presented by MIXED UP Theatre, is an exploration of the relationship between Tom (Martin Edwards) and Kate (Sarah Lawrie), somewhat centred around a mysterious box in the middle of the room. I say somewhat centred around ‘the box’ because despite being the name of the play, the box didn’t have a starring role. I had expected the mystery surrounding the contents of the box to be a core part of the plot, however it seemed to be more of a prop, used in some, but not all, scenes. Ultimately, the titular box could have been removed all together and the story would still have made sense.
Throughout the performance I found the dialogue hard to follow with the script seemingly flicking between points in time, with Tom or Kate often changing the subject and disrupting conversations, and their role-playing in parts didn’t help this! While this was likely intentional, it left me with more questions, which I then spent the rest of the performance trying to answer. What was clear though was that their relationship is complicated and something has happened to trigger this crisis point.
As the plot develops, details begin to emerge about this significant event that are intended to leave the audience questioning if Tom or Kate is lying, and if they are withholding any details from each other. I expect these revelations could have felt dramatic in the right circumstances, shocking even, but for me this fell flat. Considering the themes of the production (without giving away spoilers), I felt the performance lacked emotional depth. Between the direction by Jonathan Woolf and the script by Brian Coyle, there did not appear to be room for the audience to develop sincere connections with the characters, leaving the whole thing feeling quite cold. A few dramatic moments, such as a fight scene and destruction of the box, did little to remedy this.
Simon Beyer’s sound and lighting design was perhaps once of the main notable strengths of the performance. The use of lighting to change the mood of the scene, including strobe lighting as the box is dramatically destroyed, was well done. The music felt appropriate and added ambience at the relevant moments.
The performances of Martin Edwards and Sarah Lawrie as Tom and Kate respectively were admirable, though the exchanges between them did not always feel genuine given the gravity of the situation they were navigating.
The White Bear Theatre is a small venue in Kennington, which made the performance feel very intimate. The actors projected well with clear dialogue making the audience feel very close to the action, and this setup made the dramatic moments even more (purposefully) unsettling. That being said, the use of real (herbal) cigarettes for example was a little much for me, with the smell lingering in the small room, and made me wonder if the wine and gin were real too!
I left the theatre feeling somewhat confused and while this production had promise, for me it didn’t meet its potential.