East is South by Beau Williamson, Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 until 15 March 2025, 2☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan.

East is South by Beau Williamson, Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 until 15 March 2025,

2☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Interesting but confused drama.”

Artificial intelligence taking over from humans being all the rage at the moment this tale of what happens to a couple of programmers – Lena and Sasha – hired by the government to write a programme to deal with what could happen should an AI called Logus go rogue ought to have been not just topical but gripping and stimulating. In fact it disappears up its own backside in next to no time while the couple are ill treated in an underground and amazinglyunder populated secret establishment by those in charge because it is suddenly realised that they are up to something. You can always tell when a first night audience does not get to its feet these days that things have not gone well – the cast got a couple of sympathy bows and everyone headed post haste for Hampstead's splendid first night afters to get over what they had just endured. The problem is that AI cannot understand contradictions – it takes things at face value which is why East is South because both are the same thing, directions rather than different things, that is to say different directions. At least that, from the goings on is what I think it was all about. The performances of are fine – they remember their lines – but neither Kaya codelario as Lena and Luke Treadaway as Sasha creates somebody one is interested in watching and the various persons who come to interrogate them are stock figures from every spy being found out drama one has ever seen. It is one of those evenings when the initial idea intrigues but the plot that develops fails to sustain interest and becomes very confused. It needs more people perhaps, and surely the man stuck in front of a computer in the upper room of the set could have been given a little more to do. Anyway fingers get broken, Lena is caught short – the loo off the room in which they are stuck is locked – and reaches for a handy bowl, and somebody commits suicide. As to, well if you have to last that long to find out since there is no interval.

Cast

Nathalie Armin -Samira Darvish

Cliff Curtus – Ari Abrams

Aaron Gill – The Technician

Alec newman – Olsen/Pastor

Kaya Scodelario – Lena

Luke Treadaway – Sasha

Creatives

Director – Ellen McDougall

Designer- Alex Eales

Lighting Designer- Azusa Ono

Sound Designer – Tingying Dong.

Composer – Colin Stetson

Video Designer – Zank Hein

Movement Director – Sung Im Her

Musical Director -David Ridley

Voice & Dialiect Coach -Aundrea Fudge

Intimacy Director – Sara Green

Fight Director – Bret Yount