Flat 2, From The Middle Theatre Company Review
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
Flat 2 is the debut play from Lucy Foley who established From the Middle Theatre Company alongside Natalie Evans, who is the play’s director.
It is a two hander about Ava and Freddie. Two couples have moved into a flat share. But before they have even fully unpacked, one half of each couple is killed in a tragic accident and we follow their partners as they try to navigate their grief and their tenancy agreement. In this very unusual situation, it asks the question how soon should you get back to work, is it too early and a bit insensitive to order pizza and how soon is too soon to sleep together?!
Ava was the best friend of Freddie’s girlfriend Billie and we get quite a clear picture of what she was like. But we don’t learn much about Ava‘s partner Stefan. Ava copes with her grief by becoming something of a recluse and not leaving the flat, whilst Freddie goes back to his work as a kids’ entertainer and goes out partying. Hard. Of course, these are their personal coping mechanisms and as the play progresses we see the impact this is having both on themselves and on each other.
Director Evans made very good use of the space available and the play moves at a good pace, particularly the sequences that show us the passing of time since the accident with the actors moving on and off the set to show the routines that they have fallen into. Phone calls from the sleazy letting agent occasionally interrupt proceedings, adding some comic relief and no doubt resonating with anybody in the audience who has ever had to deal with one!
The performances were very natural, moving well from the initial shock to going through the grieving process and then opening up to each other. I found Ava the more convincing of the two, as the actor’s facial expressions and delivery gave us a real insight into how she was feeling. Freddie felt a little understated and his performance was harder to read, although as the character started to fall apart his manic energy was well pitched.
The play has plenty of humour as well as dealing with the emotions involved in loss but I found the ending a little disappointing as there was an awful lot to unpack and in the limited time available it felt rushed and not massively clear. Some of Freddie‘s actions in particular felt that they had been included either for a joke (the theft of the chicken shop mat!) or a plot device (Would he REALLY check his flatmate’s laptop without her permission?!) and the script could do with some tightening. Also, I did not really get the sense that this was really a huge loss for either of them as both relationships felt as if they were in their early stages when the accident happened.
The idea behind Flat 2 is excellent, the text is promising, it is well delivered by the cast but it does need a little more development if it is to really stand out.
★ ★ ★
