REVIEW: CAN’T WAIT TO LEAVE at Jack Studio Theatre 5 – 9 November 2024

‘Loud and proud’ ★★★ 1/2

Ryan (Zach Hawkins) is in something of an early life crisis. After moving to London to follow all the stories of wealth and success that sounded effortless coming from his big brother, Ryan’s life increasingly resembles something far darker; barely scraping by and living in a tip, he’s only getting more and more desperate as he counts the days left on his lease, leaving him all too vulnerable when the big city starts to show its teeth ...

Make no mistake; this play goes to some dark places, but writer and director Stephen Leach is to be credited for carefully handling serious topics that are so often fumbled on the stage while also making the journey to those points entertaining, in a way that never robs them of their gravity. It’s a difficult thematic balance for any show to maintain, and it’s achieved here quite well.

The balancing act is a little more suspect on the performance side of things though, as a few intense directorial choices have the last few months of Ryan’s London life roll by at a breakneck speed, where barely any gaps are left to allow the narrative or Hawkins’ performance much chance to sink in. It lends everything quite a breathless air, exacerbated by Hawkins practically shouting in every scene, giving affairs an exciting and intense energy in the moment that can often make the overall pacing feel flat.

But it’s the climactic moments in the show, where the silence speaks volumes, that really hammers this home – they demonstrate a wonderful contrast to the mad pace that comes before, and a few more moments like this sprinkled throughout would have done wonders for the story, which from a writing perspective has some wonderfully subtle threads weaved throughout, including a notably strong undercurrent of violence that foreshadows the show’s gut-punch of an ending.

And that’s the ultimate success of the show, that you will feel its highs and its lows quite intensely. It’s loud and proud, and a particularly novel experience to see in London itself (especially if you’ve felt the all too familiar terror of just barely hanging on in a new city), Just be prepared for a narrative that runs like a freight train.

Can’t Wait To Leave runs at Jack Studio Theatre from Nov 5th– Nov 9th

Box office: https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/cant-wait-to-leave/ 

Written and Directed by Stephen Leach

Co-director: Mimi Collins

Produced by 1912 Productions

Reviewed by Harry Conway