Union Theatre – until 20 May 2023
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
3***
Ahhh, the cheesy costumes, ridiculous choreography, overblown staging, intense instrumental breaks – Eurovision brings it all – as well as a lengthy list of absolute bangers. Love it or hate it, Eurovision season is inescapable and means so much to many people.
Josh (Kane Verrall) is obsessed with Eurovision – it is his happy place, a joy shared with his mother, Gina (Adele Anderson) as they litter conversations with song titles and bat trivia back and forth. Josh hosts a Eurovision party in his flat every year for his drama school friends Kat (Charlotte East) and Daz (Marcus J Foreman) and dancer/stripper/rent boy/porn star Andy (also known as Ryder) (Sean Huddlestan). Have you spotted the name connections yet? Martin Blackburn’s play takes place on Eurovision nights at Josh’s flat from 2012 to 2022, portraying the changes in dynamics of the group’s friendships over the years. In truth, Eurovision only looms large in Josh’s life, with the show playing quietly in the background as the others chat – SACRILEGE!
As Josh’s career goes nowhere (a corpse in Holby City is the highlight), Kat’s writing and performing of her monologue leads to a TV show, where she casts Daz instead of Josh as a character based on Josh himself. Kat’s use of Josh’s ideas, life and energy in her writing without acknowledging him really hurts, and continued rejections in the UK and LA, as well as cruel comments from his friends take their toll. The audience soon realises that Eurovision is the only happy thing that Josh and his mother share, and amongst all the high camp comedy expertly performed by the wonderful Verrall, the emptiness and sadness behind Josh’s use of Eurovision as a personality trait seeps through. The Eurovision and theatrical jibes are hilarious, and expertly delivered by the cast. Huddlestan and Foreman are a hoot as the, eventually, married couple that can never quite understand Josh’s obsession with Eurovision – “too gay for me!”. East has the toughest job with Kat – managing to make a character who seems to just be a conduit to introduce issues like #MeToo, intellectual property and surrogacy sympathetic and layered. Adele Anderson has a meaty role as Josh’s mother, with some fantastically written lines, that I am sure she will settle into as the run progresses – the scenes she nailed were wonderful, showing her great acting chops.
The initial frenetic sitcom atmosphere gradually darkens throughout the first act, with the second act full of confrontations and soul searching, and the energy and pace is as uneven as Eurovision itself. Perhaps a little editing down to a one act 90 minutes could create a crisper, more coherent production. As it is, Nul Points! is an enjoyable production with an excellent cast, tons of laugh out loud moments, and a laudable, deeper message about relationships and being true to yourself. Not quite top of the leader board, but a show with lots of promise.