Review: Troubled, The London Irish Centre

At the start of this show, The Troubles seem in focus. Alice (Suzy Crothers) rushes on stage, interrupting a news broadcast from 1993 projected to the back wall of the theatre that is announcing a bombing in Northern Ireland; all while Alice remains oblivious and begs her mother to let her go to a local amusement park. There’s charm and vulnerability in just how eager and plaintive the young girl is, her innocence contrasting with the violence on display just behind her.

We don’t linger in this moment for long, however; too soon we’re catapulted 30 years into the future to Lisbon, where an adult Alice is doing her best to make her way through a difficult life beset by emotional and mental hardships – which is when the moon starts talking to her. A bizarre moment played straight, this is an emblematic moment of a play that’s unafraid to bare all that lies inside a troubled mind, just as Alice barrels through the tale to bare all to strangers at brunch tables as well as friends and family halfway across the world.

The narrative progresses as a kind of love story, mostly set in London and focusing around the ups and downs in Alice’s relationships as well as her mental health and self-image. Aiding all this are some highly inventive uses of multimedia techniques, such as the projector mentioned above and even a strange but delightful little puppet show to bring Alice’s parents to life.

These prove to be a mixed bag overall; some are successful, like the use of a microphone for dedicated inner voices that Alice struggles with, while others can feel gimmicky and underused. Some just seem to go wrong, such as when the projector itself is blocked from casting its message – intentionally and unintentionally – to uncertain effect. More importantly, times and places projected to the back of the stage for the sake of transitions are typically the only thing alerting the audience to any scene change, becoming a constant crutch when sound and performance could help fill the gap.

The show’s main flaw, however, is that after building up its central character and the stakes in her life, it meanders through its story before reaching an abrupt ending. On the night, most of the audience remained in their seats for minutes after the curtain, convinced there had to be more. Alas, there wasn’t. The ending feels so off thanks to the fact that earlier Alice herself had criticised the airy notion of ‘Live, Laugh Love’ only to strangely end on the same note, with little to nothing that transpired before being resolved.

Finally, despite its strong opening during The Troubles, the show never actually revisits this era or gives it any space in the story beyond that opening vignette. Often it feels like it’s about to, that it wants to flesh out how Alice’s problems may stem from the troubled context of her early years, but this narrative angle is left largely and inexplicably unexplored.

What saves the production despite these narrative hurdles is that it’s all carried on the shoulders of a great performance by Crothers, who keeps the whole play engaging throughout. If a way can be found to stick the landing when it comes to the story, the existing strengths could easily make for a stirring show.

Written by Suzy Crothers
Directed by Amie Burns
Produced by Rachel Halliwell
Lighting & Video by Rachel Sampley
Sound by Ed Heaton

Troubled has finished its run at The London Irish Centre
but will tour Coventry & Edinburgh in 2025