Katherine Thomas' writing debut, Never Trust A Man Bun, currently
at the Stockwell Playhouse is a bright confection of tonsorial elegance –
witty, sharp, cutting, beautifully observed with some serious dry humour, but
above all, funny.
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| Katherine Thomas |
Quoting the production synopsis, ‘24-year-old Lucy’s idea of a
good night is binge-watching Goggle Box, eating leftover bolognaise and mocking
the contestants on talent shows with her flatmate, Gus. So, when Lucy gets back
from work one night, only to find that Gus has gotten back together with his
ditsy ex-girlfriend Rachael and that they have decided to hold a double date
that night, Lucy is far from pleased. However, what she doesn’t expect is her
hot date is coming in with a game plan, one which surely cannot end well.’ The
hot date, together with man bun, arrives in the form of Caps who is only ever
introduced by his nickname, which is never explained. Interestingly he comes
with history with Rachael and unashamedly sets the seeds of doubt and cleverly
manipulates the entire jolly soirée.
Director Scott Le Crass has crafted a tight, high-velocity
production which capitalises expertly on Katherine Thomas’ smart script, where
she appears as the vaguely hard-bitten flatmate, Lucy – clever, fast-tongue and
relentlessly cruel. Appearing as the gloriously stupid Rachael, Natasha Grace
Hutt has crafted a wonderful character who insists she is not stupid, yet
reinforces the reality with her sublime comic performance. Calum Robshaw as Gus
Is perfectly precise in his excellent needy portrayal of Lucy’s long-suffering
flatmate, capturing emotional blindness and enthusiastic stupidity in equal
measure. Jack Forsyth Noble as the enigmatic Caps wears his man bun with a
particular, mysterious, manipulative swagger.
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| Jack Forsyth Noble as Caps |
Never Trust A Man Bun works because of the tight, punchy
dialogue, cleverly smattered with sharp, cutting, funny one-liners and some
gorgeous laugh-out-loud awkwardness. Coupled with the undoubted strength of the
fast-paced performances of this young and unquestionably gifted ensemble, this
is an intelligent piece of new writing and decidedly worth a look.
Never Trust a Man Bun plays at Stockwell Playhouse until Sunday
24 March
To book tickets CLICK HERE
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