One Hundred Percent at Barons Court Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Content warnings: infrequent use of curse words and threats of suicide
An acting graduate bitter at not getting a big break? Blaming an examiner who once gave him 100% in an exam? This sounds like a recipe for disaster. Barons Court Theatre transforms into a studio apartment, claustrophobia taking over as we watch the showdown between Actor (Benjamin Sumrie) and Examiner (David Allen).
We meet Actor and Examiner, and it becomes apparent that Actor has ‘bumped into’ Examiner and invited him in for tea. What seems like a friendly exchange, catching up since their first and last meeting, soon turns ugly. Actor blames the Examiner for his lack of acting work, save for getting a job dressing up as Peter Pan to hand out leaflets outside Bluewater, not grasping WHY he cannot get work, considering the perfect mark. Examiner tries to calm him down until he realises Actor has a sinister motive. We watch as the Actor re-performs his pieces, requesting honest feedback, and watch on as things come to a rather unexpected conclusion.
The premise of One Hundred Percent is very simple and fits nicely into the 55-minute time slot. For a short show, we feel a lot of emotions – from some sympathy for Actor, to worry for Examiner, and plenty of dark humour interweaved throughout. Both Sumrie and Allen bring comedic talent to the show, particularly Sumrie’s clichéd drama student performances. Sumrie’s range is very well demonstrated and a thoroughly enjoyable, yet creepy, watch. Allen is equally as enjoyable to watch, as we see him go from sheer disbelief to his facial expressions when watching Actor perform. Both Actor and Examiner have experienced difficulties in the acting industry, although one appears more ‘successful’ than the other.
The risk we have is that the play appears slightly ‘same-y’ to begin with. The fixation on the 100% grade, and Examiner’s weary ‘there there’ as he listens to Actor’s experiences does mean the show has a slightly tiresome start which I personally struggled to engage with. I worried that the entire show would drag because of this and result in clock watching, however, luckily things do take a turn for the better and I found myself starting to get hooked. I was increasingly worried for the safety of Examiner and rooted for him to escape the metaphorical clutches of Actor. As Actor started to smear white and red face paint on, I knew we were in for a rollercoaster of a second half, and I was right.
David Allen is alternating the role of the Examiner with Francesca Maria Izzo. I would be very interested to know how dynamics change with gender roles swapped. I suspect this would be more of an uncomfortable watch, perhaps even touching on misogynistic attitudes towards women on a whole.
One Hundred Percent is a tense watch, an overall a pretty impressive two hander. The space in Barons Court Theatre is used well, and perfect for doubling as a claustrophobic space, the world closing in on Actor as he experiences a psychological spiral. The first twenty minutes were certainly quite slow to get through, but once the back is broken and things heat up, the more likely you are to be glued to the performance in front of you.
One Hundred Percent plays at Barons Court Theatre until 21st June 2025
★★★
