REVIEW: HOW YOU DIED at Old Red Lion Theatre (FreshFest) 1 – 3 February 2024

‘a lively hour of theatre with a serious theme, notwithstanding the witty script and the playful performances’ ★★★★

 

‘A’ has lost his best friend ‘B’ in a tragic car accident, and he will do literally anything to see her again. Fortunately, in the quite near future, AI can reproduce a dead person. For a while. For a price. A has come to a sort of games-room cum studio to re-animate B for another hour-long session of chat and playing and a bit of exploration of events, and a bit of coming to terms with a relationship that was intense but undefined. A and B have fun, and remember stuff, and bring their friendship back to life alongside the virtual reality B.

Edith Keays studied English and Philosophy at Bristol University, and her interest in both these disciplines is reflected in her script. It is funny and playful and affectionate, but it is always skirting around big questions, and effortlessly arrives at a confrontation with those questions in the final act. It is a very impressive piece of writing, exploring heavy subjects with an admirably light touch.

The two actors, Lois Baglin as ‘B’ and Tom Gould-Scott as ‘A’, serve it very well indeed, segueing from playfulness to intensity without going anywhere near portentousness or plonking. And Ellie Jay Stevens’ direction keeps the show with two actors sitting around a lit-up console lively and dynamic and very watchable indeed. The children’s games the couple play work as beautiful counterpoints to the subject matter, and keep things moving without being twee. It is a very tidy production, all the elements pulling together to make for a lively hour of theatre with a serious theme, notwithstanding the witty script and the playful performances. That’s quite a trick to pull off. The Dark Skies Ensemble manage it with considerable ease.

 Reviewed by Chris Lilly