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A tale of missed connections in a big city is given a unique spin as two strangers share a trip on the legendary Kennington loop. Summary
Rating
Excellent
The Kennington Loop is something any real London Underground geek knows all about. As the name implies, it is a loop at Kennington, and it’s used to turn trains around when they terminate at Kennington. It’s a piece of line that has plenty of myth and interest, and now it even has a play named after it.
Two strangers, A and B, fail to get off their train when it reaches Kennington, both assuming that it’s going further along the line (the Northern line extension means that Kennington is no longer the final stop). And so begins a cleverly crafted story, as the two imagine where their lives might lead if only they could somehow break that most holy of underground laws – that you must never ever speak to one another!
The writing plays very heavily on the concept of the loop, being that you end up just where you started. So while the pair let their imaginations run wild, they always seem to return to where they began: two strangers on a train. But whilst the pair let their imaginations go in very different directions, for her it’s romantic, for him adventurous, the two merge when it comes to their fear of being alone, both scared that their lives are on a continuous loop where day after day they follow the same routine, always ending in the same place as every other day before.
Director, Daniel McVey, does a wonderful job in bringing to life the script created by writer/ performers Boo Jackson and Matt Vickery. Two chairs, nicely covered to look very tube train like, are at first placed in such a way that we can see Jackson face-on, but only the back of McVey. We get to watch as A voices her inner monologue, following the flight of fancy where she gives her fellow passenger a whole life into which she could fit. Regularly she amends her story to make it more exciting, more thrilling, as she desperately tries to inject energy and excitement into her life. Slowly B starts to contribute directly, as A’s imagination goes even further, until it all comes crashing down around her, as she realises she will never really break the silence and make the much needed connection with a fellow lonely soul. As A’s story comes to a brutal conclusion the pair retake their seats, but this time it is B facing out to the audience and A with her back to us, and we get to share in his wandering thoughts, cleverly overlapping with the story A has shared.
The narrative is all tightly knitted together, as we jump from one character to the other, following their dreams as they weave whole futures in their minds, whilst in reality sitting in silence waiting for the train to return to where they have just left. The script overlaps time and again as both stories merge and then take alternative branches. It all makes for a clever show. However, it perhaps tries the same trick once too often and as we start to watch another loop of almost the same story the feeling of déjà vu does become slightly repetitive.
The concept of feeling like a stranger in a big city is nothing new in fringe theatre. Strangers, one of my favourite shows of 2023, covered the same idea but in a totally different way. The Kennington Loop might cover well-travelled tracks, but it does so in what feels a unique and well thought out fashion.
Written by: Boo Jackson and Matt Vickery
Directed by: Daniel McVey
Produced by: Jess Donn
Movement Direction by: Jordan Fuller
Lighting design by: Sam Osborne
The Kennington Loop has completed its current run.
