This Must Be The Place, written by Brad Birch and Kenneth Emson, was first performed at Latitude Festival in 2016. It now transfers to Vault Festival in London for five nights.
Four actors wait on stage as the audience file into the small damp vault space with trains rumbling overhead. They smile and make eye contact with the audience until the lights go down, then they take up their microphones and begin to speak. The speech is tight and well-crafted; the words bounce between the actors and across the stage. Beginning as one tale told by four voices, the story soon divides into two.
Molly Roberts and James Cooney play Lily and Adam, a couple struggling to find their way, not helped by Adam deciding to throw away his phone and go off the grid. Hamish Rush and Feliks Mathur play Matty and Tate, waiting for the lift that will take them away to a new start in London, winding each other up in the way only old friends can to hide their true feelings.
This tale is all about the storytelling. The stage is empty apart from a wooden bench and four microphones. Clever use of lighting and sound provides a sense of place; our attention is held by the four people in front of us figuring out where they really belong.
This Must Be The Place gained a string of four star reviews at Latitude and this production doesn’t disappoint.
Reviewed by Rhiannon Evans
Photo: Matthew Foster
