REVIEW: The Assessment Centre at Etcetera Theatre / Camden Fringe 8 – 13 August 2023

‘likeable concept, impressive performances and strong script’ ★★★ ½

Craig Henry’s Assessment Centre is an initially comedic and lighthearted two-hander, that takes an assessment centre for a generic corporate city-job to the max. Pippa Moss and Jasper Talbot hold the stage well, playing total opposites, Freya and Clay, and the writing is, at times, extremely clever and playful. There’s a dark and sombre twist at the end, revealing that this whole process wasn’t about the swanky city job but about how two opposing people come together through a shared experience of grief. Whilst this twist had the potential to come crashing through the comedic set-up in a powerful way, it felt slightly jolting.

Despite the jolt of atmosphere towards the end of the piece which Henry should work on smoothing over and introducing in a more playful and subtle way, Henry is able to write dialogue that is engaging, clever, and comical. The pace that is written into the script keeps the audience engaged throughout the process and the idea of two completely different people, being stuck together, carrying out weird and wacky tasks is a well-used theatrical framework that Henry used particularly well. The subtle direct audience address, as we were made to feel as if we were the assessors, sat behind an invisible screen watching Freya and Clay’s every move was brilliant. Henry is a playwright with a lot of potential. What would have elevated The Assessment Centre even more is further development of the two opposing characters. Once we had established that Freya and Clay were very different, one hard and straight-forward, the other laid back and always joking around, I felt Moss and Talbot weren’t given much else to play with, making their characters feel somewhat 2D and leaving the audience wanting more.

That being said, Moss and Talbot gave impressive performances, taking their characters far and allowing the audience to really get to know them. They had us in the palm of their hands throughout. Talbot’s comedic timing, physical representation of his character, and the ability to instantly become the audience’s friend was exceptional. Moss did well to fight against this likeable energy, and to also be liked and appreciated by the audience, despite a less friendly character. They worked impeccably as a duo, and it was clear that they had worked hard on building these characters together. They dealt with Henry’s fast-paced dialogue and quick remarks well and delivered consistently convincing performances. I only wish that Henry had written more fully rounded characters to give Moss and Talbot, who are clearly two talented performers, even more to play around with.

The set and staging were very simple, and it was clear that Henry had focused more on dialogue and character than a daring directorial approach. This simplicity, however, gave us an opportunity to really get to know the characters and listen to their every word.

Overall, The Assessment Centre is a great production that has had lots of success at Camden Fringe, and I can see why. It is productions like this that keep The Etcetera Theatre going at a time when it has recently announced that it may have to close due to financial difficulty. The concept is likeable, the performances are impressive, and the script is strong. As they go on to develop and re-run this production, which I would love to happen, I would be interested to see Henry develop more rounded characters, going beyond the trope of being two opposites, and to introduce the shift at the end in a more subtle way.

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Craig Henry @CraigHenry6

Reviewed by Amy Tickner