The Crumple Zone by Buddy Thomas. Waterloo East Theatre, until 22 December, 2024,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“A Christmas cocktail.”

It is Christmas and as well as the season to be jolly one of goodwill towards all men so lets be generous and give the play its stars It was first staged of Broadway in 2000 and most recently here in 2018 at the King's Head theatre in Islington, also a Lambco production but with a different cast and director. Set over Christmas in a flat in Staten island we find Terry, an out of work actor working as a waiter, sparring with his flat mates, Buck, a closet gay who works in an office, and the bi-sexual Alex, who is staying with them in place of Sam, an actress who is away on tour and is his girl friend. It is an explosive cocktail of relationships with Buck and Alex starting to get too close, especially after Alex, is playing Santa Claus loses his job, while Terry just wants love and also fancies Buck. At least that is what I think is going on because it all proceeds at dazzling speed and some startlingly violent prat falls by all concerned. One knows what is going to happen at the act one curtain, of course. Sam will turn up. Act Two turns bitter sweet as she discovers her lover not only swings both ways but it going to swing away once the more reserved Buck decides love is for him, which leaves Terry and Sam listening to who else but Judy singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas amid the wreckage of the apartment as a result of all the drunken shenanigans. There is also another uninvited guest but no spoilers. The trouble is one never believes anyone is American and if you are going to cast a comedy about mutual attraction, sometimes unspoken, and falling in and out of love, you need to have chemistry between the cast and there is none. Pleasant, personable and talented they may be but why A should fancy B and B should decide he does fancy A, while C fancies both A and B, but is fancied by neither, is hard to believe as is just why D, in other words Sam, should fancy A. The play has, over the years, been done all over the world and is a welcome, if slightly specialised, addition to the line up of Big Smoke Christmas theatre productions at this small but perfectly formed fringe theatre.

Cast

James Grimm – Terry.

Sinead Donnelly -Sam.

James Mackay – Buck.

Jonny Davidson. - Alex.

Nicholas David – Roger.

Creatives

Director – Helen Bang.

Costumes – Janet Huckle.

Technical – Richard Lambert.