Golden Goose Theatre – until 28th January 2023
Reviewed by Emily Cliff
1*
One of the many rules in life we are taught is to never judge a book by its cover. We are taught that from primary school all the way up into adulthood, whether that be judging an album by its cover, a film by its poster or, in my case, a play by its poster and title. I can say now honestly that I will never judge a play by its title and poster ever again – universe, I have learned my lesson.
The story follows Sara (portrayed by Abigail Stone) and her husband Jams (portrayed by Brad Leigh) as they navigate domestic life in a dystopian future taking place in the year 2077 when Sara’s ‘brother’ (portrayed by Paul Brayward) comes to visit. Threatened with ecological disaster and economic chaos, governments have become authoritarian and repressive. Domestic family life struggles to survive in a world of fleeing refugees, mass suicides, ruined and deserted suburbs with soldiers patrolling the streets. The old cities are in ruins and people have been resettled in regimented suburbs.
It goes without saying that these fantastic actors were let down enormously by an abysmal script. Abigail Stone’s acting was impeccable, given what she had to work with. She carved that character and performed it with everything she had even with the strange twists and turns this play took.
The play itself was trying to be Shakespeare in modern language, however there were just too many metaphors in the dialogue for it to make sense. Along with completely out of context costume choices most of this play felt like a fever dream on acid. At one point Stone’s character came out wearing a coat with spoons on it and that was never explained or visited ever again.
Upon first glance, “Have I None” by a “giant of British theatre” – (Guardian) is a black mirror-esque post apocalyptic dystopian thriller which, on paper, is everything I love about theatre. However, upon seeing the play in the flesh I can firmly say that was the most bizarre, confusing and downright terrible 50 minutes of my life that I will never get back. The most heartbreaking thing about this play is that it was supported by a fantastic cast that put their heart and soul into performing writing that was just not good.
Overall, I think the actors in this play were fantastic, it is such a shame they were let down by such poor writing and storytelling. Maybe it was me, maybe I just didn’t get it but I think for your show to be successful, you need to explain and explore plots with more depth. From a furniture rendezvous that was left unexplained to out of context costume choices, this play was a disappointing watch. I would not recommend seeing this unless confusing plot hole driven plays are your thing.