Review: Five, Lion and Unicorn Theatre

“There are four cameras,” explains the Killer at the very start of Lilwen Faulkner’s Five, giving us full details of them. It’s a lovely start, but what follows asks us to forgive too many inconsistencies, and those four cameras absolutely come back to haunt the show. 

Five takes us into a prison visiting room. Killer (Zak Rosen) is waiting for true-crime podcaster Morris (Filippo Brozzo) after agreeing to an interview. But as we progress through a series of meetings, it’s abundantly clear that Killer is the one in charge as he slowly manipulates Morris with his strange charm.  But herein lies the problem. This framing device is meant to question our obsession with true crime shows, but it becomes its major pitfall. It never feels realistic in any way, with too many inconsistencies. Faulkner has clearly not done any research into how such a scene would truly play out, asking us instead to suspend belief. It’s a naivety that risks ruining everything that else. 

For starters, having spent time in both prisons and psychiatric wards, I can assure you that you would not be allowed to take pens or phones into a meeting room with a high category prisoner. You would never be allowed any physical contact, let alone be able to remove their straitjacket. Yes, I hear you saying it’s artistic licence, and to a point that’s fair. But only so far, and removing a straitjacket crosses any possible licence. Then there is the fact that our podcaster tells the killer all about his personal life, but later refuses to give his first name because that is “too personal”. It’s just another of the many frustrating problems with the narrative. But the biggest annoyance? That first line about cameras. When the finale comes, it demands no one else is watching… excuse me, did someone switch the cameras off? Why mention them so prominently, then ask us to forget?

And just to get all my bugbears off my chest, having your actors turn to basically talk directly to the audience takes us even further out of the prison room. It’s a podcast recording, talk to the mic and each other, do not turn to address the actual audience watching, we do not exist in this world.

As you can tell, the naivety within the premise leaves me less than impressed, and truthfully, the whole framing needs to be reconsidered to make Five work. Thankfully, elsewhere, however, there is plenty to suggest redemption is within Faulkner’s reach. There’s no doubt she can write characters; her killer is superbly fleshed out, dropping enough little crumbs for us to believe his backstory. Here is a character that could work within a better structure. Rosen’s performance certainly helps bring him to life, his cold, calculating manner making him creepy and uncomfortable to witness. His staring, grinning face as we enter the theatre is a great touch.  Likewise, the theme of our obsession with true crime is cleverly explored. Here Faulkner raises interesting questions about how we obsess over killers, yet often not the victims or their families. Again, there is plenty to suggest the building blocks are in place to build a great show upon.

Right now, though, the problems heavily outweigh the positives. We are being asked to ignore too much for the sake of the idea. Faulkner seriously needs to reconsider how she brings these two characters together to explore these obsessions. There is the core of a good play here. Maybe a research trip to a prison might help her find it.

Written & Directed by Lilwen Faulkner
Assistant Director: Michael Howard
Produced by Half Light Creative

Five plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre until Saturday 16 May