Fin Kennedy’s complex dramedy How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found comes to the Questors Studio in an ambitious production directed by Steve Fitzpatrick.
A five-person cast, three playing multiple roles, wrestle with the twists and turns of this psychological mystery play.
James Goodden, the company’s regular panto Dame, shows an impressive range outside of the slapstick and frocks, shining in particular as a rather fey lost property officer at Embankment tube station.
As Charlie, overworked and coke-addicted, Pascal Orzabal is completely convincing as his world plays strange tricks around him. When he feels the need to disappear, can he really be lost forever?
With the multiple roles meaning Charlie encounters many faces that look the same, sometimes even repeating similar situations, this play constantly intrigues and wrong-foots the audience.
Juliette Demoulin’s set design is very clever, using projected location backdrops on screens that flip to dress scenes as required. Fitzpatrick’s direction allows the invisible to be visible behind the scenes, adding to the unease.
This is a serious yet surreal play. Over two hours, we follow Charlie, clutching his mother’s cremation urn, deal with the collapse of his regular routine.
Little clues are dotted throughout about what has happened, from the sludge he sees in his blood to an unexplained injury. Whether what are seeing is ‘real’ is up to the audience to determine.
Erin Starvrianos is the mysterious Sophie, on the fringes with a clipboard before she steps forward and shows her hand in this strange poker play.
Each character, however transient, is clearly drawn and brought to life with a change of stance or accent, a quick costume change.
As well as Goodden’s metamorphosis from American advertising client to London lowlife criminal, we can enjoy Kerala McGrail as a company doctor engrossed in results and a dubious fortune teller.
I enjoyed Matt Cranfield’s range of turns from boozy Eric at the office to conflicted priest and pivotal drug dealer.
For character bits, Kennedy’s play must be an absolute gift for amateur companies, with this Questors production being followed by one at the Tower Theatre later in the year.
This is a play that touches on mortality, identity, trust, and ‘the wheel’, which keeps us running on a cycle of work. Charlie may be an extreme example, but the point is clear, and this is an entertaining watch.
***.5
How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found continues in the Questors Studio until 21 Sep – details here.
Image credit: Jane Arnold Foster