The was something of a cabaret layout of the King’s Arms theatre with an array of small tables in front of the performance area and initially Drowning, presented by Dare To Know Theatre Company from Oldham, had something a cabaret atmosphere. Jake Talbot came on in character as a cocky, self-assured teenager talking in a relaxed, chatty manner to the audience with liberal lashings of expletive language and crude sexual observations which would not seem out of place in a performance by Bernard Manning or Roy Chubby Brown. This had the effect of creating a very realistic rapport as well as providing an authentic aura to the world of this adolescent. The frequent rhetorical questions almost demanded actual answers as it was easy to forget that this was not acting but an actual first-hand account of real events.
The world of Jake’s character was shattered when he had to deal with three traumatic events involving the death of a parent, the break-up of a relationship and the suicide of a schoolmate. The progression from initial self-confidence to progressive disintegration was handled skilfully and convincingly as the play progressively took on a darker tone until any semblance to a stand-up comedian had completely evaporated as Jake was seen struggling to cope with everything that life has thrown at him. The transitions were handled with detailed acute observations as the viewpoints from friends, relatives and teachers were all considered and the audience left constantly wondering just where this story was going to lead.
Mental illness is given a lot of public attention at the moment, particularly in relation to young people as many face isolated lives through Covid 19. Drowning could be seen as homing in on this but the play is much more a study as to how any of us, at any age, can have our lives unexpectedly shattered by an unexpected tragic event with a couple of other crises happening around the same time. It really could happen to any one of us and none of us knows exactly how we would cope, however much we might like to think so.
Jake Talbot has done sterling work in putting together a powerful piece of theatre which takes the audience on a very personal journey. With no props save a black block, the world of a young life being torn apart is vividly brought to the fore as each and every member of the audience is subtly invited to relate what they are seeing either to their own lives or how they have related to others going through crises. There is a lot of humour in this piece but there comes a point where it is no longer to see any funny side to anything; the point at which an individual really is emotionally drowning. A fine performance of a very poignant and thought-provoking piece of writing.
Reviewer - John Waterhosue
on - 23/10/20
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