REVIEW: NOT BY BLOOD by Luke Fewell, Camden Fringe at King's Head Theatre 4 - 7 August 2024

 "A smart and fiercely topical comedy of errors that illustrates the pitiful hilarity of the cost of living crisis" ★★★ ½

Blood might be thicker than water, but nothing brings us together like a cost of living crisis. And after a slightly nervous start, that's what Luke Fewell's punky black comedy, 'Not By Blood', is really getting at. Three foster brothers, crushed by money problems and a helpless future, have seemingly found a get-rich-quick scheme. But it involves something dodgy, dangerous, and sometimes pretty funny.

Sat in their living room working out a plan, Christopher (Darcy Streamer), Harry (Harry Hodierne), and Eric (Rudi Rance) are an oddball trio of young men with no promise ahead of them and plenty of banter between them. There are flashes of genius in the setup and some genuine laugh-out-loud moments: I especially enjoyed Eric's insistence that some of his best relationships are with his drug dealers because they keep calling up to ask if he needs anything.

But where this production really excels is in its genuine topicality. References to current issues are integral to the plot, rather than shoehorned in for relevance. Eric's somehow hopeless but impassioned musings over whether to join Extinction Rebellion or Just Stop Oil; the brothers' disbelief over the increasing price of a pint, and their nameless anger aimed in the general direction of government. Then there's the glib and terrifyingly quotidian references to 'Putin's nukes': all of this does a great job of showing us the laugh-or-you'd-cry deadening effect of a dangerous world, and why these young men have come to this point in their lives. In front of a bag with unknown contents. That they're about to hand over to gangsters. You get the sense that these characters, in the absence of trust in the systems of society, and without anywhere else to turn, have resorted to taking things into their own hands. And here they are. It works as a concept, even if not always perfectly.

Looking at the piece as a whole then, Jude Forster's squalid set is brilliantly realised, almost a character unto itself, just as messy and conspicuous as the three brothers themselves. However, the cast are a little constrained by it. The strewn beer cans are often kicked and crushed, many times accidentally, so much so that it becomes a touch jumpy and jarring, for both the audience and the actors, and if you're sat in the front row you're in danger of getting pelted by some wayward rubbish. But, to be fair, it does look great, and deliciously over-the-top, perhaps a good reflection of that same kind of emotional debris we accumulate in life, and the many obstacles we face while walking across the stage of it.

There is also some lovely lighting design by Ezra Mortimer, capturing the smoky oppression of the living room and the kooky whimsicality of their imagination.

One of the standouts for me here is Darcy Streamer as Christopher, with a polished performance that looks as though he took it very seriously, perhaps put a good deal of thought into his character's state of mind: I felt as though he had the most life behind his eyes. But that's not to discount all the other guys: Harry Hodierne as Harry and Rudi Rance as Eric, all of whom had an admirable sense of comic timing and gave wholehearted performances that worked well together. You can believe them as a group of mismatched brothers, related not by birth but by circumstance.

Another worthy mention is Rosie Cunnew's Jess, who is hilarious, in all her leopard-print brashness, even without that many punchlines.

For me, though, it slightly loses its way in its final act, tonally a bit unsteady. A couple of times I wasn't certain whether I was supposed to be laughing or gasping or holding my breath. It stretches the parameters of believability a bit by heading down the path of farce before U-turning into something dark and unsettling, without wholly committing to either.

Nevertheless, it is a good laugh, with a meaningful message and a solid set of characters. If you like your comedy with a bit of grit, then Not By Blood will be satisfying. This is a smart and fiercely topical comedy of errors that illustrates the pitiful hilarity of the cost of living crisis. And I call that good value for money.

Not By Blood by Luke Fewell

Directed by Logan Mersh

King's Head Theatre, 6th & 7th August 2024

Box Office: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/not-by-blood

Reviewed by Alix Owen