★★★★★ Before 30
Tom Hartwell has variously been described as, ‘the writer for
the millennial generation’, ‘the one to watch’ and ‘one of our finest emerging
playwrights’. All giddy stuff but he has, without doubt, maintained a great
momentum since his debut play, You Tweet My Face Space in 2015, followed in
2017 by Contactless and Flood.
I saw Before 30 last year, and now it has landed at the
award-winning Waterloo East theatre. As I said then in my review summary, it is
‘a brilliant piece of funny, incisive writing coupled with a tour de force
performance’.
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The many faces of Chris |
Once again, as with You Tweet, Hartwell has his finger on the
social media pulse of a generation. Cleverly observed commentary on the
problems of home ownership, parents, Deliveroo and the perennial angst of
growing older – is 30 old? The humour of his writing is rapier-sharp, but the
punch lines always strike home and make a serious point. While it is funny to
see him emerge from a tent ostensibly pitched in a rented garage at the
beginning of the piece, he then goes onto exploring the problems of property
ownership. Likewise, he gives a brilliant exposé of the trials and relentless
tribulations of the gig economy – food or drug delivery? One could even imagine
Hartwell on his Deliveroo bike, all in the line of conscientious research of
course!
While Before 30 is very funny, Hartwell also explores the mental
health issues thrust upon a generation by the seeming hopelessness of security
and the lack of a ‘traditional’ family unit and structure. It also reinforces
his position as a writer of considerable talent who has an eye for a visual and
physical gag but above all an inherent, emotionally shrewd and mature
understanding of the society about which he writes.
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Tom Hartwell |
Director Phil Croft also reinforces Hartwell’s writing with a
dextrous touch, cleverly exploiting his undoubted physicality as an actor
together with the ability to take the audience from laugh-out-loud scenarios to
the biting pathos of life in doubt or even despair.
I hope that Before 30 doesn’t disappear into the ether after
this brief stopover at Waterloo as it deserves to be seen by a much
broader audience – in fact, all of Hartwell's work needs to be seen more widely. But in the meantime, simply head down to Brad Street, Waterloo East!
From Tuesday 26 March to Sunday 3 March 2019
Show Times: Tues - Sat at 7.30pm Sun at 4pm
Running time approx.60 mins with No interval
Tickets: £15 / £12 Concessions*
Allocated seating. Strictly No Latecomers Admitted.
*(Students: Unwaged: Over 60’s: Equity: Disabled: Lambeth
Resident
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