THEATRE REVIEW: Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Salford Arts Theatre, Salford.

This new play by Libby Hall is a taut piece of writing, and a bittersweet comedy. Co-produced by Salford Arts Theatre and To The Left Productions, last night’s performance was at the Salford Arts Theatre.

The initial premise appears to be an updated version of “The Odd Couple”, set in urban Salford. Two eighteen-year-old boys run into each other in a pub toilet years after they last saw each other in primary school. One has violent, drug-addicted parents and is aching to leave home. The other lost his parents in a car crash years ago, and has just lost his grandmother as well. They decide to get a flat and move in together. The first boy is very neat and organised, has savings in the bank, and is looking to make a life for himself. The second boy is a bit of an irresponsible drunkard who just wants to have a good time. And it’s a very small and grotty flat, with a noisy and sexually active drug dealer living on the floor above.

Joel Hill, as the first boy, delivered a detailed performance of assured maturity, perfectly encapsulating the teenager who is old before his time. His naturalistic stage presence was partnered with a strongly quiet power and sense of pace. For an actor so young, it was rather extraordinary.

Vincent Purcell, as the second boy, had a lot more of the comedy relief. He relished every instant of it, particularly with a very nice line of small physical gestures that swelled the scripted moments. Interestingly, his own dramatic power also started to kick in as the play’s events slowly turned the two protagonists into young men who have to decide their own character. The unreliable narrator issues he was wrestling with towards the end were also performed with a maturity that was rather disconcerting in an actor so young, and full credit must be given to director Roni Ellis here. She is definitely an actors’ director.

Playwright Libby Hall has an eye for the minutiae of life, and a restrained approach to language. Though there were scenes of very broad humour – Purcell’s character’s job interview for a retirement home could not have been more over-the-top  - overall, Hall’s touch was feather-light. And the strong sense of ethics that permutated the piece gave it a deeper richness without being didactic.

The set was simple, but effective, featuring movable pale-coloured panels that could be substituted for various gungy surfaces such as pub toilets and council house walls. The lighting was also restrained yet potent, at times breaking into spotlights to isolate the two characters from each other as their versions of events differentiated, then blending again. At times there was a pounding soundtrack, featuring a great deal of music from the Smiths.

Reviewer - Thalia Terpsichore
on - 5.10.22