A dysfunctional group of siblings who haven’t been together for three years are the main characters in Waiting Room, a new play written and directed by Simon Blackburn. It’s part of this year’s Camden Fringe offering at the Hen & Chickens Theatre.
Alex is back in the country after running into a career slump as an actor overseas. Jen, an architect, and Harvey, a landscaper, are the sister and brother who have kept in contact, and now their dad is waiting for surgery in the hospital after a heart attack. We never see him, instead getting a sense of the unit’s mechanics through sound and the character of charge nurse Layla.
Sibling rivalries, jealousies, and even affectionate ribbing are themes Blackburn returns to throughout this story, as the three wait for news about their dad’s health. Layla becomes linked to the situation through a fling with Alex, and a shared experience about an ageing parent.
Nico Cetrulo and Archie Steele, as brothers Alex and Harvey, have a surface physical resemblance, so that’s a shorthand for their relationship. They tease and taunt each other while hiding behind inconsequential chat and deep dives into the single issue of Playboy left in the room. Men who can’t open up or stay close.
Jen (Olivia Caley) is more grounded, but it soon becomes apparent that in the house growing up, she was often overlooked by a dad who was centred on his sons, and an overworked mum. She’s bisexual, which offers additional fuel for both comedy and drama, and Layla’s attachment with her brother seems to be an unacceptable line to cross.
Then there’s Layla, played by Eva Rae Thomson, who finds herself in the middle of the physical and emotional battles of this family. It’s a lovely, understated performance, that balances the more heightened dynamics of the sibling trio.
In this fringe debut from Superfluous Theatre – I was particularly interested to see that Steele is performing in two different shows a night at this venue, also featuring in Terry’s Been Murdered – it is clear that the interpersonal dynamic is what Blackburn values the most, dialling up the unlikely while staying true to how people deal with a crisis.
Waiting Room has a lot of ambition, and really makes use of the time it has, just an hour, to introduce us to a family and keep us invested in them. Each character has an intriguing back story, while the setting feels appropriately shabby, with a sofa patched together with duct tape and a selection of ancient, tatty, magazines.
I’m giving this 4 stars.
Waiting Room is part of this year’s Camden Fringe.