Review: Gate Number 5, Greenwich Theatre

I would love to spend three weeks in August soaking up Edinburgh’s creative storm. If, like me, you also haven’t managed it, Greenwich Theatre has just the thing for you. Throughout October, the Pick Of The Fringe series brings some of the top offerings down to South East London. Eleven varied performances have been brought down from Scotland, and tonight it is the turn of Henriette Laursen’s Gate Number 5.

Straight away it’s so intriguing. Laursen is the only actor in the room with us, playing one half of a couple in a love story. We’re not left guessing around the other half, though, because Gate Number 5 is half play, half film. Behind Laursen is a projection of film footage that mostly features her love interest, played by Princess Donnough. Seeing the story unfold this way cleverly allows us to see and experience so much more.

The love story itself is great, just the right mix of funny, touching, worrying and awkward to feel real – even if some of the awkwardness did feel a bit too hammy. I rolled my eyes at some of the romance, thinking it was sometimes a bit much, but gradually all is forgiven. There’s a twist (of course) which made everything more meaningful, powerful, and devastatingly realistic. The final burst of reality hits like a brick in the face, leaving a bitter aftertaste that reminds me of my pick for 2022’s Christmas No. 1.  Whether the characters’ feelings were imagined or remembered, it felt authentic.

Boundary-breaking elements are often a risk in plays. Breaking the fourth wall is a bit marmite-esque and divisive, whilst immersive aspects can be hit-and-miss. Maybe it’s something to do with invading the audience’s space that’s challenging. In Gate Number 5 the wall that’s broken doesn’t let the play spill out into the audience, but instead invites us further in. The film projected behind Laursen, where she acts both as part of, and narrator to, means that we are taken from location to location, hearing from a bigger cast than this stage could house, and Vincent Rosec’s videography is another trick up the play’s sleeve. Awkward as it could have been, Laursen makes playing with two dimensional characters look completely natural.

Gate Number 5 is a beautiful and devastating queer love story. Unfair obstacles hit a sparkling and flawed couple, who’s love feels comfortably familiar. Sucked into a cinematic world by Laursen’s charismatic performance and witty script, it’s a modernised one-woman show.

Written by: Henriette Laursen
Directed by: Rasheka Christie-Carter
Produced by: Callista Saputra
Videography by: Vincent Rosec

Gate Number 5 has now finished its run at Greenwich Theatre.