REVIEW: ALMOST THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, GrimFest at Old Red Lion Theatre 17 – 20 October 2024

“Sinister and absurd with twisted comedic banter” ★★★★

From a poisoned cake laced with cremated ashes to exorcisms, ‘Almost the Birthday Party’ Is the ideal play that’ll get you in the mood for the spooky season.  Set on a bare-spaced stage with vintage furniture and a vibrant Ottoman carpet, ‘Almost the Birthday Party’ was wrapped in humorous dark jokes that really got the audience chuckling. This play was partially inspired by ‘The Birthday Party,’ written by playwright Harold Pinter in 1957.

This production is dedicated to Gil Sutherland and, also in memoriam to, Roger Sansom who originally played Kenny and Vern in 2014. Their incredible performances helped shape this play.  The action unfolded with Kenny, played by Bernard O’Sullivan, and Vern, played by John Rayment, talking to an imaginary Mrs. Percival. They did this by breaking the fourth wall and directing the dialogue to the audience. They seemed like a normal pair until a major plot twist regarding their involvement in a murder was revealed.

At first, the action was a bit static with both actors sitting on the sofa. However, the tension started to rise when gloomy references began to flow in, especially when they mentioned that they had a priest locked up in the basement for the past few days. A portrait of a cat is displayed behind the sofa and we later discover that the cat, Clement, was their late pet. It got darker when Kenny says “Life didn’t work out for him” to which Vern replies, “Because you killed him.” They also dried and stuffed the cat to keep his memory alive.

I particularly enjoyed the exaggerated laughs Kenny and Vern put on, and so did the audience as we were laughing with the actors. Their ominous chuckles reflected their twisted motives when they spoke about the other homicides they were involved in. Yet on the exterior, Kenny and Vern looked like a decent, wise elderly duo. The silk robes they wore were a suitable addition.

During the last scene, the actors transformed into an elderly couple. Kenny transitioned into a female character, Pauline, and Vern was now Pat. Katie, who was another imaginary presence, had a tiger’s eye gem necklace that the couple wanted. To obtain it, Pauline and Pat instigated a game of blind man’s buff, the lights went out for a few seconds, and when the lights went up again Pauline was holding the necklace; leaving us to think about the unfortunate attack Katie endured. Not long after, Pat mysteriously finds himself locked in the basement and the play ends with Pauline on the stage.

Overall, the play had a suitable balance of dark comedy and grimness. At times, the jokes lacked an immediate reaction because their menacing nature wasn’t an obvious on the surface level. Nevertheless, when the plot began to reveal some of the gruesome activities the duo committed, we couldn’t help but laugh at the way these activities were concealed with humour.

I’m eager to see how this play continues to develop and maybe run longer in other theatre festivals.

Part of Grimfest at the Old Red Lion Theatre

Box Office https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/Grimfest.html

ALMOST THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

Written by Paul Kalburgi

Directed by Scott Le Crass

Bernard O’Sullivan as Kenny

John Rayment as Vern