Double Act at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Do you ever have those dreams where you’re trying to get somewhere, but you never do? Double Act appears to be the perfect example of one such dream. It is brimming with potential, with a capable cast delivering the correct balance between levity and gravitas and a story that feels incredibly real, but which meanders and takes sometimes inexplicable detours without ever really reaching its final destination.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

My Review:

Double Act is an original play written by Nick Hyde, starring both him and his co-star Oliver Maynard as two sides of the same person; a man who decided that today is his last day on earth. The tone for the play is set immediately, with Hyde and Maynard performing a sad clown double act, their unsettling white faces and black eye make up contrasting the comedy of the act itself. You instantly feel a little unsettled despite your laughter, and I applaud it for its cleverness. It is both unique and incredibly effective in letting the audience know the tone of the next 90 minutes.

We will see this interlude throughout the play, usually to break up scene changes and re-establish new times of day. The routine unravels a little more each time to depict the unravelling of our main character’s mental state and conviction to go through with his plan to end his life, until the clown make up is finally wiped off once the coast of West Sussex is reached and he finds himself at the edge of a cliff. The two sides of his personality - Maynard’s side, who has wanted to get to this point all day, and Hyde’s side, who’s insisted on their detours - have an explosive argument. All pretence is lost now, and there is just the inner struggle of a man, who is eventually talked off this literal ledge by a kindly older gentleman who you get the feeling walks this area every night looking for lost souls just like our main character. It’s a poignant moment, it says exactly the right things, but you do walk away feeling something’s lacking.

The humour in this mostly works. It is strongest when it plays on relatability, especially in front of a London audience. Who hasn't grumbled at a whole 3 minute wait on a tube, or cowered in irrational fear at a group of 12 year olds with vapes at a corner shop? But not every joke lands, and I found one too many jokes relying a bit too heavily on punching down rather than up. And when you have to resort to literal toilet humour... Well, that's usually a good marker that you're out of ideas.

On top of that, the main character often really isn't likeable. While I can see how this was partly the point, as he is generally at his least likeable when putting up the veneer of having to be tough and not wanting to be a coward, it does still come across as abrasive through a female lens. And while people like his ex are painted in a favourable light - she's right, she should not have to be his therapist - it does undercut the sympathy we are meant to feel for our main character. Aspects of this sympathy are later regained, and both Hyde and Maynard deliver their emotional moments with the gravitas they require, but I could not help but feel a sense of unease thinking back on those moments, and not in the way the play likely intended. This character is not a man that I, as a woman, would feel safe around, and that cannot help but nag at you.

But while I can forgive an unlikeable main character, the play's biggest loss is in its apparent lack of a core thesis. It meanders, lacking purpose and direction, wanting to reach a conclusion that it does not sufficiently address in its main body. Our lead insists he’s not a coward, and the play wants to tell us that walking away from the edge and choosing to live, is in fact the bravest choice you can make. But other than a brief conversation with his ex - where again, he is at his least likeable - this isn’t really shown anywhere else. While I can see a purpose to the meandering, it does undercut a lot of power any messaging could have had.

On top of that, its use of the two sides of our main character's personality - one desiring to head towards his demise, one working hard to avoid it - falls apart where it matters most. While the argument between both sides at the cliff was an inevitability, it blurs the lines just a tad too strongly, and having the avoidant side being the one to eventually push the character to jump, to have that side being the one calling him a coward, does not work. Add to that the fact that it's that side of the main character we've seen acting like a prick most often, and his attempts at avoiding the conclusion begin to feel disingenuous.

With all that said, Double Act feels nothing if not realistic. Excluding the presence of the sad clown interludes, each character's portrayal and the entire sequence of events within the day are rooted in a certain banality that makes everything feel... real. If you were to tell me Nick Hyde was portraying a day he's genuinely experienced, down to the last detail, I'd believe you in an instant. There is no grand setback that makes him decide all hope is lost, nor is there a grand revaluation that life is worth living. There are just the everyday ups and downs - though mostly downs - of a normal day. You go out. You talk to some people. You have a meal. Your mum calls. Your card declines. People around you are still living their lives as normal, mostly ignoring you as they deal with their own struggles. For all intents and purposes, it’s a day like any other. And that is impossibly hard to pull off successfully, so I would like to give it credit for that.

All in all, Double Act needs some work. Its messaging, while far from hollow, could be stronger, and it currently under-uses the distinction between the two sides of the main character’s personality; especially in its key moments. But it’s witty where it needs to be, its leads fulfil their roles very well, and clear care has been put into the technical aspects of the production. The story of Double Act feels real in ways I’ve rarely seen in media, which in its own way is a double-edged sword; it’s hard to match the banality of reality with powerful and clear messaging. But it has potential, and all the building blocks are there; especially if you can look past the main character’s more dislikable traits.

Content Warnings:

The show has content warnings clearly displayed around the foyer and throughout the theatre, which were as follows:

This production contains:

Depictions of Suicide
Suicidal Ideation
Self-Harm
Anxiety
Depression
Strong Language

Other content warnings that I felt may be worth mentioning are as follows:

Occasional Loud Noises - particularly during a sequence on the tube in the first half of the show
Depictions of Clowns

Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope this review has proved interesting and helpful for you :)

- AnxiousTheatregoer