Review: Wet House – Live Theatre, Newcastle
Image: Riley Jones, Joe Caffrey and Chris Connel in Wet House
Wet House, Live Theatre’s new comedy-drama about a hostel which caters for people with alcohol problems, is excessively brilliant.
The action begins as fresh-faced art history graduate Andy (Riley Jones) joins seasoned care workers Mike and Helen to work at an inner-city hostel for homeless people with alcohol problems.
The performances are simply superb. As Helen and Andy, Riley Jones and Jackie Lye contrast well with Mike’s unpredictability.
Given his pedigree (including Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters), it shouldn’t be much of a shock to learn that Chris Connel delivers a magnificent performance as Mike.
Joe Caffrey, David Nellist and Eva Quinn are believable as the vulnerable clients, with a particular nod to Nellist.
The production design efficiently extends the space away from the stage, with director Max Roberts and designer Gary McCann learning from some of the more efective sequences from this summer’s Tyne.
As it gradually transpires that Mike’s attitude to his clients might not be best described as entirely ‘sympathetic’, Paddy Campbell’s script – his debut full-length play – is a first class demonstration of the power of juxtaposing comedy with drama.
The opening comic performances accentuate the drama, which in turn make us grab onto the subsequent gags for blessed relief.
Stand-up comedy, of course, also exploits this power of juxtaposition, as Brendan Burns, rather cynically, explained at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe when he described how a bit of pathos in the 45th minute of an hour-long set can nudge up a show’s star count.
There is nothing cynical about Wet House, though, which skilfully balances comedy with some disturbing and immensely powerful drama.
As Live Theatre celebrates its fortieth year, this fine new play is the latest on an impressive chronology, which includes Close The Coalhouse Door , A Walk on Part, Cooking with Elvis, and, of course, The Pitmen Painters.
Campbell set to join the likes of Lee Hall, CP Taylor, Tom Hadaway, Alan Plater and Michael Chaplin on a roll call of the theatre’s luminaries.
Wet House is great example of why local, grass roots theatre should be supported.
Like when fans boast about how they saw the Arctic Monkeys when they were playing rooms above pubs, you will certainly be glad that you were at the first run of Campbell’s first play.
We are not being paid to give you a link to where you can buy tickets for Wet House, but here’s one anyway. And here’s another, just in case you missed the one in the last sentence. You’re welcome.
Wet House runs at the Live Theatre from 18 September to 5 October. For more information or to book tickets visit www.live.org.uk or contact the box office on (0191) 232 1232.
