REVIEW: MILKED by Simon Longman at White Bear Theatre 14 - 25 January 2025

‘brought to life and turned into compelling viewing by two actors who are on top of their game’ ★★★

This was a play about two friends, Paul and Snowy, one trying to find a job the other trying to find himself.  Early on it seemed to lack direction and it was unclear what it was about. It had a strange atmosphere possibly from the black humour which was at times a bit sick and didn’t always get much of a laugh. It reminded me a bit of the theatre of the absurd plays. Was it up to us to make what we could of this slow pace, antagonistic situation, weird jokes and bazaar happenings? Something had to happen soon because I was in danger of nodding off but I was here to pay attention and that was the thing that eventually dawned on me. Maybe it was because of all the strangeness that it was impossible not to pay attention. It certainly was an odd story and with two lesser actors the whole thing might have been in danger of falling apart completely. 

The more it developed the more obvious it was that this was not just a series of situations strung together to get a laugh. Their friendship was changing as their circumstances changed and the unexpected events led to unpredictable decisions. Paul’s frustration at being unsuccessful at securing a job was so well played by Iwan Bond I’m sure everyone in the audience was rooting for him however hopeless he made the task appear. Here was a lad who didn’t have a clue why he wanted to do what he wanted to do and his friend didn’t really want to do anything but ended up doing something that somebody else forced him to do. 

Their philosophizing over what was worth doing and what was a waste of time was complicated by a cow. These things cost money and need to be milked frequently so for them to find one lying about was not the most realistic event so it made me wonder if there was some kind of symbolism going on here. What did the cow represent?

Whatever it was, it was clear that the friendship was the main theme. The friends altered their views towards the cow after plenty of suggestions of what to do with it, some cruel, some impractical and some just ridiculous. Evan L Barker who played Snowy getting a massive dose of reality from his father made a startling change in his attitude and demeanour, so much so that it appeared almost like another actor had slipped onstage to finish the play off.

Whatever the point of the story was, one thing was for sure. This was not just well written but brought to life and turned into compelling viewing by two actors who were on top of their game. Both of them have to be commended for giving very good performances.

Photographer: Craig Sugden

BOX OFFICE 

Written by Simon Longman

Performed by Iwan Bond and Evan L. Barker

Directed by David Bond