Review: THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH at Lion and Unicorn Theatre 12 – 16 July 2022

‘A play about bottling things up and being pushed to the brink’

‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ is a play about men’s mental health, an increasingly popular subject that deserves more airtime than it gets.

The story is all about bottling things up, being pushed to the brink, broken friendships and poor communication. These are all interesting themes, but in common with several significant plot points, they are glossed over and not explored in a novel or nuanced way.

Much of the problems stem from the two central characters. Twenty-something Joe is clearly upset by something, though for much of the play we’re unsure what exactly that is. He’s on holiday with Rich who is exuberant, laddy and guilty of opting for distraction techniques over confronting serious issues head on.

They’re plonked in Orlando, Florida, “the happiest place on earth,” where a statue comes alive and acts as a vehicle through which Joe can express his feelings. Joe is selective with what he says to the statue, despite the non-judgemental safety afforded by his hallucinatory experience. This makes us feel as if we’re being toyed with by the writer rather than immersed in Joe’s innermost thoughts. What he does reveal, tends to be one-dimensional anguish, that essentially stays at the same level throughout the performance.

From the offset, there’s a distance between Joe and Rich. This feels odd, only partially making sense later on. The trouble is, to understand the impact of their near constant conflict, we first need to believe their love for one another. We don’t get this, making it difficult to fully empathise with the characters.

The play’s tone leaps around, jolting this way and that, like an old rollercoaster. On the night, the silly gags landed, although in my opinion, they didn’t really fit in with the serious aspects of the piece. The “dark humour” simply didn’t get any laughs. Dark humour is great when it comes off, but it has to be sharp, witty and crucially just on the boundary of what is acceptable. Jokes about serious mental health issues have been made countless times before and in the modern age have lost their appeal.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Written by Dan Berridge

Directed by Rachel Mervis

Hidden Viewz Production

Lion & Unicorn Theatre from 12th-16th July at 7:30pm

 https://www.thelionandunicorntheatre.com/whats-on

Reviewed by Danny Shaw