Xhloe and Natasha’s A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson, Or God: Whoever Reads This First at Soho Theatre 17 - 29 March 2025

'Bittersweet, irresistible and impressively crafted' ★★★★

Mud splattered and festooned with scout badges, Xhloe and Natasha, an American double act have landed. Fresh from their off-Broadway debut at SoHo Playhouse in New York, they are now delighting audiences at Soho Theatre, Dean Street with their distinctive combination of physical theatre and clowning. In this one-hour, direct address piece we are served a slice of unforgettable Americana: entertaining, energetic, intelligent and funny, A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson, provides a salient Stateside commentary, alongside laughter, pathos and irresistible performances. Co-writers and performers, Xhloe and Natacha are young boys: Ace is sharp shooting and quick witted, “don’t pick a fight you can’t win” while sidekick, Grasshopper, who has a speech impediment, is slower to respond and looks up to Ace.

For part of the performance, they are kids fooling around at summer camp – then through the magic of mime, theatrical time, and evocative lighting from Angelo Sagnelli – we are in Vietnam’s killing fields. Played out to a nostalgic Beatles soundtrack and the occasional winsome harmonica, this could all be horribly mawkish and klutzy, but the star-spangled banner has an off note while the iconic stars and stripes flag is conceptually frayed at the edges and pierced by bullet holes. Drawing on their personal upbringings in military families and being taught the USA was the greatest country in the world – a narrative being ramped up at this very moment – this is a bittersweet performance – The Waltons meets Deliverance.

Seamless and memorable double acts are two halves of the same whole. They work in sync and may be able to read each others’ minds. These two talented individuals, who have already garnered many awards, have this in spades. The work is impressively crafted, tightly synchronised and in complete harmony, something the two have been honing for over a decade. As ideas of innocence and corruption are narratively mined, the American Dream is never quite what it seems. Several good guys turn out to be phony or illusionary, but the truth of friendship remains even after death. Xhloe and Natasha are also the duo behind, What if They Ate the Baby, being presented on different nights, which offers a queer and colourful dystopia in response to the changing reproductive rights in the US. Fresh, fun and fearless, these two are not to be missed.

Photo credit: Morgan McDowell

Xhloe and Natasha’s A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson, Or God: Whoever Reads This First

Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE

17 - 29 March 2025

BOX OFFICE