Review: Drive, Peckham Fringe

The lights go down, a sofa is carried on to the stage and it starts. ‘This is gonna be a love story at the end of the day’ and my goodness it is. Joe Flynn’s Drive is a packed full hour of comedy, music and hard hitting realities. The show revolves around four boys in their last year at university. After years in a secret band called Mixed Colours, formed in their teenage years at their local youth centre, they have finally decided to go public. But this doesn’t go as smoothly as planned, with all of life’s other struggles slowly creeping in, leaving everyone wondering if the band will keep it together for their first performance.

Drive leans itself perfectly to fringe theatre, with its small but charismatic four person cast present on stage the whole time. The cast are hard to divide, as they glue together so well; the show simply wouldn’t be the same without any of them. Harry Simkins, Israel Fredericks, Zanda Emlano and Kazeem Taiwo build an environment that is so believable you forgot you are not just sat on the sofa with them. And they are all a double edged sword, skilled in not only acting but when they need to these boys can sing. It adds such an essential element to the story, without which the show wouldn’t be complete.

Maisie Frater’s design is rooted in reality, with every piece of set and costume having a purpose. With no changes in the set or costume throughout it’s a nice constant that doesn’t distract from the action. Equally, the sound, although occasionally a little loud, doesn’t miss a single beat. Each effect essential to the story, aiding the actors in their constant flow of storytelling.

Flynn’s quick and witty writing has the audience laughing regularly, aided by the perfect delivery and flow. Current political jokes are mixed in with relevant and topical language to build a very believable London university setting. There’s a great level of audience participation dispersed throughout, a balance which is often hard to find, but here making the show feel professional and yet welcoming.

The juxtaposed scenes, from rambunctious movements and overlapping voices to complete still and quite, keep the audience focused and allow time to really hear the characters individual struggles they are facing outside the band, with themes like immigration, pornography, relationships and religion explored in a very respectful way, and without losing the overall comedic quality.

There feels scope for this to be longer, there’s a sense that the whole audience would gladly have stayed for a second act. This would then allow for more exploration of the individual characters and their struggles. There is a space and need for raw performances like Drive in theatre, and I look forward to seeing how the show develops.

Written and Directed by: Joe Flynn
Produced by: Gabi McGurk
Design by: Maisie Frater
Dramaturg by: Romeo Mika
Technician: Aleks Gulliver

Drive plays at Peckham Fringe until 7 Wednesday 7 May.