Are We Doing This Right? at Hen and Chickens Theatre Review

Written by Paris for Theatre & Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review

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My favourite writer once said that a writer is just someone who struggles more than others to write. That thought often returns to me, especially when I see a show like Are We Doing This Right?—a funny, touching, and refreshingly honest play currently performed at the Hen and Chickens Theatre in London. While it may stumble at points, what it gets right is far more memorable: the way it captures the doubt, the delay, the spirals, and the tender breakdowns that come with trying to create something that matters, especially when you’re not quite sure who you are yet.

The show, directed by Benedict Esdale, the production design made by Amber Wild, was written by Honor Koe and co-performed by Koe and Ned Campbell. Koe and Campbell play two flatmates in their twenties, trying to find themselves and imagine a future they actually want to live in. Koe’s character is stuck between humiliating roles in adverts and the daunting task of writing her debut play. Campbell plays a deeply likeable mess, recovering from a breakup and stuck in a soul-draining day job. Both are, in their own ways, struggling to stay afloat. The chemistry between Koe and Campbell is the engine of the show. Their flat feels lived-in, their friendship instantly believable. That connection helps create one of the play’s greatest strengths: it makes the audience feel like part of the home, like we’re sitting next to them. It’s not easy to create that intimacy, especially in this kind of “neurotic twentysomething” comedy—a genre that so often tries, usually unsuccessfully, to mimic Fleabag's style without being too obvious about it. But Koe and Campbell pull it off because the emotions underneath feel real. The humour is there, yes, but so are the vulnerabilities, without ever implying the play needs to say something greater than it does. Their performances shift easily between comic outbursts, quiet heartbreak, and the gentle absurdity of being lost. It’s a grounded, unpretentious piece, helped by Esdale's light-touch direction and Wild’s believable and warm set that allow the writing to breathe.

Where the play shines is in its central theme: the struggle of writing, the fear of making something honest versus something “successful,” and the paralysis of comparison. It speaks directly to the push-pull creatives know so well, between wanting to be authentic and needing to be accepted. Through their conversations, breakdowns, false starts, and procrastination, Are We Doing This Right? becomes a play about how art gets made—and, more importantly, why it often doesn’t. The fact that it explores this with self-awareness, humour, and affection is no small feat.

That said, the show isn’t without its missteps. One of the more glaring issues is how it acknowledges, too briefly, that its characters’ problems are, in many ways, privileged. Yes, emotional and existential struggles are valid across all walks of life. But the way the script jokes about the objectively larger issues facing Western society compared to the characters’ anxieties, feels a little pretentious, even arrogant. It gestures toward awareness, but doesn’t quite handle it with the subtlety or humility it needs. The result feels more like a self-aware disclaimer than a meaningful reflection. Another weaker point is the direction of Koe’s more dramatic monologues. When impersonating fictional characters from the play she is supposedly writing, her acting is brilliantly over-the-top, capturing the theatricality of storytelling. But when she shifts into moments of genuine vulnerability (particularly when phoning her father or discussing his illness) the tone remains oddly similar. The lack of contrast between performance and truth undermines those raw emotional beats, making them feel performative rather than lived. These moments needed more grounding and subtlety to land with the weight they deserved.

Yet, even with those faults, this is a play that does what it sets out to do. Through humour, warmth, and raw conversation, it becomes a love letter to the struggle itself—procrastination, self-doubt, the fear of not being enough. And it speaks with clarity about what it means to create, not from ego or ambition, but from the honest mess of simply being alive and wanting to connect. The title, “Are We Doing This Right?”, is deceptively simple and beautifully fitting. As Koe’s character points out, finding the title is often a huge part of the work. This one tells you everything you need to know. And while the show roots its themes in the confusion of your twenties, I’d argue the question it asks never goes away. If anything, it comes back with more force as you grow older. Because wondering if you’re doing it right is part of what it means to be human, and admitting you’re lost is the first step to finding your way.

If you’ve ever questioned the point of what you’re doing, struggled with creating something, or if you simply want to see funny yet tender new work from talented emerging voices, Are We Doing This Right? is worth your time. You’ll leave feeling seen and maybe a little less alone.

At the Hen & Chickens Theater until 24 May 2025

★ ★ ★ ★