How To Fight Loneliness at Park Theatre Review
Photo by Mark Douet.
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Content warnings – violence, strong language, terminal illness, death, assisted dying/assisted suicide.
There has been a lot of coverage and conversation regarding assisted dying of late, a difficult and emotive topic with lots of complexities. Neil LaBute’s ‘How to Fight Loneliness’ explores the topic of assisted dying, exploring the reasons behind someone may wish to end their life, setbacks they may face as well as the morality side of the argument.
We meet married couple Jodie (Justina Kehinde) and Brad (Archie Backhouse) as they are waiting for somebody to swing by their house. Tate (Morgan Watkins) arrives, and it soon transpires that he knows Jodie from high school. The atmosphere is rather awkward as we’re wondering why on earth were they waiting for Tate. Eventually Jodie tells Tate she wants him to help her die, due to her terminal brain cancer. Why Tate though? We soon find out that he may or may not have killed his stepbrother. Tensions and emotions run high, Jodie’s rather cool determination to die is the opposite to Brad’s distress, with Tate willing to do whatever Jodie wants him to do.
I left How to Fight Loneliness wondering ‘what’ exactly this show was aiming to be. Of course one show cannot outline and fully discuss both sides of a hugely current topic and tell an audience how they ‘must’ feel without them feeling lectured. I feel lke we just didn’t see the possible depth and it felt quite surface level. LaBute has his own experience with assisted dying, with his mum ‘begging tio die’ in her last days and hours and so has his own heartfelt experience which is clear in this production.
There is no doubt about it, the obvious message is certainly there relating to the ‘right to choose’ but I don’t feel like we ever quite got to the root or saw the ‘other side’ of the debate despite the show being two hours long. There is a plot twist thrown in at the end, which although a shock could have perhaps been left out.
Interview: Justina Kehinde, How To Fight Loneliness
Kehinde’s performance was a great watch, looking pained and defeated with eyes closed and fists clenched whilst delivering some impressive monologues. Her performance was very powerful. Backhouse’s performance of Brad was good yet limited due to the lack of depth; often borderline ridiculed for his opposition to Jodie’s impending assisted death, it was hard not to feel sorry for him particularly in the final scene where Archie did absolutely excel. The character of Tate was an interesting one, introduced to the audience as the person who can help end Jodie’s life. Watkins successfully delivers some comic relief particularly in moments where its well needed We see him as this ‘hard man’, an outsider, lovestruck and pensive – quite the combination!
The three characters serve their purpose; the person who wants to die, the person who can’t bear the thought of life without their loved one and then the person who thinks everyone should have autonomy over their own life.
Mona Camille’s set consists of a barren landscape, strewn with rocks doubling as furniture adorned with flowers and snacks, and weeds on the ground. The characters walk around this set, collect drinks and snacks, and have the difficult conversations. There is an occasion in the second act where stagehands enter the stage to replace various objects and furnishings whilst the audience simply waits. To be fair, although slightly awkward I’m not sure how else this could have been carried out and I certainly don’t have any suggestions.
There is no denying that How to Fight Loneliness is intriguing and a good show, with some powerful performances. This is an extremely hefty subject at the best of times, never mind when it needs to be fitted into a two hour stage show, but I would have preferred slightly more content to reflect on.
At Park Theatre until 24th May 2025.
★★★
