Pressure 3 by Quarter Productions at Playhouse East Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Four creative teams with the same rehearsal time and budget, twenty minutes to win the audience’s vote, one winner. Welcome to Pressure 3, the third instalment of 2nd Quarter Production’s scratch night series. This time round, the theme is ‘Time is Running Out’, a theme taken on very differently by all four teams.
First, we start with ‘Forward or Backwards’, the more literal play of the four, with characters being offered a jab at the age of 40 that allows them to age backwards. A futuristic Benjamin Button. There were moments that I felt were a little confused, particularly the relationship between the characters; however, it must be remembered that this is a twenty-minute play, which can’t go into reams of details. Cameron Krogh Stone plays an impressive part as a university professor, with very eloquent speeches and humour woven together. Set one hundred years from now, it definitely taps into the present time with references to jabs that alter yourself and appearance. An interesting concept with a promising cast.
‘Cookie Dough’ was hauntingly beautiful, a short story of watching the person you love leave. Abby McCann and Grace Lyon’s chemistry was realistic and joyful to watch, with gentle ribbing and cute moments, as well as an emotional moment. You could almost hear the timer ticking down to when the two were going to be parted, by distance and also current relationship statuses. Again, this was a pretty literal take on the theme, but justice was done.
‘Sad Face’ was a good play, however, I do think the theme could have been played on a lot more than it was. Yes this was the story of university lovers about to part ways, but it was hardly the greatest love story where separating is a tragedy. Giorgia Laird puts on a great performance as somebody who fell in love with the first male met at university, with Arthur Campbell and Harrison Sharpe putting on good ‘laddy’ performances. Another promising play for sure, one that I could well imagine being padded out into a longer production.
Last but not least, we get ‘A Big Tip’, the story of a young gentleman going to visit a male escort for the first time. Arguably, this is the play that got the most laughs, from Will Lockey’s flabbergasted expressions to Jack Donaghue’s wild claims of who has sought his services. Of the four plays, I would say this is the one that evoked the most emotion and, despite being so short, did actually have depth to it. In a short space of time, we explore homophobia and identity, two topics usually the subject of ninety-minute shows. My only criticism again was that the theme wasn’t so prevalent.
I found the takes on the theme interesting, from it being literal to a lot more subtle. Personally, I do prefer when themes are slightly more obvious but there’s no harm in making the audience really have to think. It really can’t be easy to condense shows to twenty minutes, yet overall, Pressure 3 presented four promising plays with some real talent behind them.
On at Playhouse East Theatre until 22nd November 2025
★ ★ ★
