Everytime We Touch, Theatre503 Review
Written by Jasmine for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Everytime We Touch is a simultaneously moving one-person show that will have you switching between laughter and tears at break neck speed.
Framed by a marathon run which is refreshingly honest about how much running actually sucks, a man called Conor slips back through the memories which brought him to this moment. Andrew Houghton’s performance as Conor is wonderful - they make this show feel like you’re talking to a mate. They balance the comic moments and the more intense subject matter brilliantly - it’s impossible not to get on board with their story, and their performance is most impressive in the instantaneous changes from heartbreaking stories to hilarious stories how much running a marathon actually hurts in very specific places.
The handling of these changes between tone and time has also been built into the show really effectively by Nathan Charles, the director, who gives us the tech cues to feel we’ve switched settings and whose direction brings out the most potential fun in the comic moments. My favourite was an entire story presented like football commentary. The willingness to lean into a joke from both Charles and Houghton gives the show much needed lightness to contrast the heavy moments which are beautifully handled by keeping them simple in comparison, being told the story just as a friend would tell it to you. A highlight of the show is how devastating it is when Conor gets incredibly angry - it is a moment which is shocking because of how genuine and how unlike what we know of the character it is.
No doubt so much of this story hits home the way that it does from being based in truth. Writer Theo Moore has written the contradictions of real life into every moment of the show; how the good and the bad, the funny and disastrous, tend to sit together because life goes on even when things go wrong. Fundamentally, that is the feeling that makes this play so impactful - it feels true to how the most difficult things in our lives actually happen.
It is no surprise this show has found its way to Theatre503, renowned for its’ brilliant programme of new writing, and I really hope to see them have another run soon. When they do - get down to see this show! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel really grateful not to be running a marathon right now.
★ ★ ★ ★
