Review: Things To Say When I See You In Person, The Water Rats

Nayib Jean Baptiste’s Things To Say When I See You In Person, directed by Valerie Mo, sets up a promising premise: a couple navigating separation through a series of long-distance phone calls. Roman (Conor Pavitt) is heading to Africa for charity work, leaving behind Faith (Andy MacKinnon) in London, who continues her life as an artist from his apartment. Their relationship unfolds through conversations at a distance, exploring the things easier said when not face-to-face.

This core idea is where the play finds its strongest dramatic layer. We see how distance allows Roman and Faith to broach topics: marriage, children, fidelity, and family that might have felt too daunting in person. Yet the safety of separation also breeds misunderstandings, which in turn seem more easily resolved when physical closeness is restored. The concept speaks well to the complexities of intimacy in a digital, long-distance age.

The issue lies in the execution. The script casts its net too wide, juggling marriage proposals, affairs, family tensions, friendships, financial worries and career choices without fully developing any individual strand. Much of the dialogue feels familiar, assembled from the cadences of romantic drama but lacking originality, nuance or depth. The result is a linear narrative that struggles to generate tension. At 90 minutes, the piece often drags, especially given the late evening slot, and risks feeling inconsequential.  

The production design compounds these problems. The stage is crowded with no fewer than four tables, cluttered with props, many unused. The staging feels heavy, and while the actors work hard to keep movement around the space slick, the constant shuffling soon becomes wearying. Roman’s repeated costume changes, designed to indicate changes of scene, only add to the clumsiness. Watching him endlessly swap varying permutations of jumpers and jackets for each new phone call is almost unintentionally comic. Simple lighting shifts and ambient piano cues help delineate scenes, but the sheer number of these transitions (and their durations) slows momentum rather than builds atmosphere.

The performances, however, bring heart to the piece. Pavitt makes Roman earnest, serious and slightly neurotic, while MacKinnon gives Faith an appealingly artistic, flirty openness. Both approach the material with real conviction, and both manage to find moments of genuine feeling. Yet their efforts manage to yield results despite a clichéd script and direction that doesn’t really understand what it’s trying to contribute to the piece. 

Ultimately, the play does have something meaningful to say about distance, communication, and the way conversations at arm’s length can mask the harder truths of intimacy. But this idea somehow manages to be both underexplored and overwrought, leaving Things To Say When I See You In Person feeling both too much and not enough at the same time. 

Written by: Nayib Jean Baptiste
Directed by: Valerie Mo
Assistant Director: Joshua Kwan
Set Designer: Peiyao Wang
Intimacy Director: Liz Kent
Lighting Designer: Sanli Wang

Things To Say When I See You In Person plays The Water Rats Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe
until Wednesday 20 August