REVIEW: A CARRY ON IN KRAKOW by Joe Facer at Bridge House Theatre, Penge 12 – 23 November 2024

‘a nuanced piece’ ★★★ ½ 

Two men are part of a stag weekend in Krakow. One, Leo (Michael Schenk) is at the station, clearly distressed and leaving the party early. The other, his old friend Greg (Joe Facer), who is dressed as Kate Bush and has followed him, is trying to get to the bottom of Leo’s reasons. There is a lot of joshing and mood changes in this two hander which eventually gets quite serious when we finally learn what is troubling Leo. He is a decent sort often teased as Saint Leo by Greg. He is running away from the possibility of deeply hurting another friend – enough said. No spoilers.

It’s a nuanced piece. Greg has problems of his own but Facer, who also wrote the play, makes him pretty rounded and complex. He was worried that Leo was contemplating suicide or secretly gay and in denial – both wrong. But he is right that Leo is deeply troubled. These two actors work very well together and their dialogue feels completely natural.

There is a slight problem with Facer’s diction however. His northern accent is so strong that some of the word endings disappear and from the corner I sat in he was sometimes inaudible when he had his back to me in the Bridge House Theatre’s in-the-round set-up. The other mildly amusing issue is that we get a sound track with trains and it isn’t always possible to distinguish them from the real life trains which rumble regularly past the Bridge House which is almost next to Penge West station.

On the whole though, this is strong 60 minutes of quite hard hitting theatre.

A CARRY ON IN KRAKOW by Joe Facer

Directed by Sam Daltry

Bridge House Theatre Penge

12 – 23 November 2024

Box Office https://thebridgehousetheatre.co.uk/shows/a-carry-on-in-krakow/