Review: Needy, Golden Goose Theatre

Lambeth Fringe is a major month-long celebration of innovative, exciting, challenging theatre, cabaret and performance work that covers twenty-six venues – yes, that’s twenty-six, folks- across the borough of south London. It gives opportunities – on average, one-nighters and two-day runs – to creatives, writers, designers and actors to showcase their work and their talent.

And Needy at the Oval’s Golden Goose Theatre by James Malam gets things going with a bang, or should that be five cucumbers? Indeed, it starts as it means to go on. Wacky, surreal, but, in a strange way, rooted in truth, however absurd that may sound.

Fin, played by Malam himself, goes to his local service station to buy from indifferent counter assistant Owen (an excellent Daniel Romain) the aforementioned five cucumbers. Fin is definitely a nervous, disturbed young lad – Malam compellingly endows him with an array of physical twitches and broken unfinished phrases- but Owen calmly deals with him in a brilliant matter-of-fact way, to the point of reluctantly accepting to take him home – “oh ok, why not?”.

Even though Fin explains his fidgetiness is due in part to finding his flatmate dead (!!!), a liaison of sorts ensues, but Owen is plainly not interested in anything more, while Fin gets more and more obsessive. What is wonderful about the writing is that Fin’s desperate need for connection and love, admittedly somewhat distorted by this obsession, creates some beautiful evocations of the sensations Fin feels for Owen when they are together, amongst all the heightened situations they find themselves in. I am not sure the introduction of the detective works, frankly, but Aimée Sturgess as Detective Bailey provides some more zany humour as she is just as obsessive and needy as Fin about the success of her yoga classes that she does on the side of her detecting (it’s a mad, mad world, folks!).

Technically, the delivery can be undervoiced and too throw-away at times and consequently inaudible, which is a shame, but overall, these three possess a drive and a reality within the surreality, that is humorous, touching and engaging. The priest, as a voiceover at the end as things reach a bloody climax between Owen and Fin – I say no more for fear of spoilers – seems a bit of a tag-on and a tad redundant, but this does not deflect from an exceptional, bravura first piece of writing and performance from James Malam.

This is produced by an exceptional company called Disaster Class, set up by young creatives at the start of their careers, and you can positively feel the energy of the group. Director Charlie Rider, ably aided and abetted by designer Ethan Bailey-Smith, brought this text to life, creating spaces and an all-encompassing world in which his three actors felt comfortable enough to luxuriate in their characters and words. Another brilliant aspect of this production was the sound – a big shout out to Cameron Day, who devised a throbbing, at times distorted, pounding beat between scenes and underscoring them as well, synchronised in no small way by an upstage window that complemented the rhythms in different shades (lighting by Caitlin Macgreggor). It felt like the banging headache of the protagonist, the need, in fact, inside this lad’s clearly disturbed head.

I left with joy in my heart for the future of theatre, exhilaration at these young, exciting talents on display, across all the creative disciplines that Disaster Class encompasses and encourages. Look out for all their names, fellow theatre-lovers, and thanks to Lambeth Fringe Festival, you saw them here first.

Written by James Malam
Directed by Charlie Rider
Design by Ethan Bailey-Smith
Sound by Cameron Day
Lighting by Caitlin Macgreggor
Produced by Disaster Class

Needy has completed its current run.