Are We Friends? at Old Red Lion Theatre, London Review
Are We Friends is part of the Camden Fringe, running until the end of August. Staged in the intimate Old Red Lion Theatre, this is an equally compact production which is very much a work in progress with good intentions.
We meet Oliver and Andy (Luis Dias and Noah Matthews Matofsky respectively) in a graveyard, Oliver hanging around by his mum’s grave and Andrew walking around with a skull and practising his lines for Hamlet, a local production he is soon going to star in. The friendship soon starts to blossom, aided by Andy’s insistence on not leaving Oliver alone. Oliver – now Ollie - agrees to watch Andy in Hamlet, but his own demons start to creep in and disrupt the initial sweetness of the friendship.
Throughout Are We Friends, we see Ollie drinking alcohol as a coping mechanism and turning to cannabis to help relax him. He is clearly a tortured character, which is a stark difference to Andy, who presents as wonderfully optimistic, encouraging Ollie to stop with his unhealthy habits.
The two bond very quickly and we see a glimmer of hope for Ollie, in a welcome nod to male friendships on the stage. The two hug and talk about love interests, standard kind of friendship chit chat. However, we don’t see much more than that, no deeper connection or moments of the friendship evolving. I have no doubt that this is likely due to the time constraints. In a perfect world, Ollie would have gone to see Andy in Hamlet and the friendship would flourish from then on. Instead, we go from 0 – 100, watching on as Ollie ends up blackout drunk, so much so he ends up needing hospital attention. The use of substances to deal with grief is believable, and makes for some sad viewing, and the deepest exploration throughout.
Scenes are split by dim lighting, designed by Hannes Knischewski, and by Ollie speaking directly to the audience. Jazz music plays loudly in contrast to Ollie’s voice, and we hear him talk about the friendship in the past tense, describing how it changed his life and lashing out emotionally. We don’t get to the nitty-gritty of why these sections are in the past tense, nor do we gain a clear understanding of what happened to the friendship. Why and when did it (presumably) end? These gaps make this production feel more like a work in progress.
Are We Friends feels far too short, at forty minutes despite being advertised as sixty minutes. Even sixty minutes may have been too ambitious. This is undoubtedly a well-thought-out show, Dias also showing his talent as a writer as well as an actor. We have two great actors acting out moments of thoughtfulness and candour, as well as despair and loneliness. Just a little more work and a little more time on the clock, and I have no doubt this is a production that would thrive.
At Old Red Lion Pub until 14th August
★★★
Written by Bronagh for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026. This show contains themes of death, grief and references to emotional distress
