All Roads New Wimbledon Theatre Studio Review

★★★★

Reviewer - Annie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

Last night I had the privilege of attending the world premiere for Roy Williams’ new play ‘All Roads’ at the Studio @ New Wimbledon Theatre. The play is in partnership with Attic Theatre Company - which showcases new plays in collaboration with some of the industry’s leading artists.

Attic Theatre Company clearly are a passion project who spill their hearts into their work, this was most evident from not only the cast and creatives last night, but from the respect and support within the audience. The intimate setting of the Studio theatre made the evening even more encouraging and supportive.

Roy Williams’ latest play ‘All Roads’ follows two teenagers as they cope with loss caused by suicide. The two person play is wonderfully manoeuvred through themes touching on suicide, grief, racial discrimination and mental health. Although all heavy, hard hitting topics, Williams has managed to find an intricate balance which celebrates the intimate moments in life making the play have excellent movement and fluidity.

Williams’ writing is extremely detailed, offering wonderful analysis of heavy topics, which feel real and raw. There is no glamorisation of the topics, which makes the play easy to relate to. The characters feel honest and understandable in their journeys through grief, not ignoring the ugliness that often surrounds such heavy topics.

With only a two person cast, the script creates so much depth and exploration between both the main characters and external characters, whom the actors cleverly flick between with such ease. Williams’ script is wonderful and extremely impressive to have fit so much detail into one hour.

Both Kudzai Mangombe and Tristan Waterson are tremendous, with insane commitment to their roles. They feel polished and well studied yet still effortless and real in their portrayals. It is evident that both are extremely talented actors - they were both equally a joy to watch.

With such hard hitting topics being presented, it can often make for uncomfortable viewing. However, the cast handled the topics with such care and consideration it was easy to become totally immersed in their story.

Although I felt the topics were handled with care, at moments it felt perhaps the message of the show was perhaps a bit too close to the line of ambiguity. I felt I was asking myself what the purpose of the show actually was at the core, which is quite hard to consider when so many heavy topics were being discussed then flicked through to moments of light. With such a short run time, it can be understood that the pace is of a pretty persistent tempo, but I personally felt some moments felt a little too breezy, causing a little confusion.

The staging is stripped back and simple, which lended merit to the play, allowing the focus to be totally zoned in on the actors and their dialogue. Their use of the space was well choreographed, creating enough movement that it didn’t feel rigid or unnatural.

Overall I enjoyed my evening to see this new play, and applaud all for a successful evening. I believe the work that Attic Theatre Company are doing is hugely important to society and I look forward to seeing what they do next!