The Real Estate
Will Thacker
Directed by Chloe Patricia Beale
Bridge House Theatre
Star rating: 3.5
An engaging little satirical comedy, The Real Estate explores the horrors of reality TV and spices it with house purchase which often comes with horrors of its own.
Alex (Lewis Griffin) and Nell (Lauren Ava Thomas) are selling their property, a former council flat, because they are separating. Eventually an absurdly high offer is made by a self-declared Prince, dressed like a Tudor nobleman (Ollie West) who makes it a condition that they provide “content” for his TV show. It isn’t meant to be plausible but it’s funny and asks some pertinent questions about truth, reality and what on earth we mean by “content.”
By far the best thing in it is Rebecca “Cranks” Crankshaw’s performance as Sylvia, the estate agent. She perfectly nails the put-on, slightly whiny voice of someone to whom RP doesn’t come naturally. Her voice slips and slides depending who she’s talking to and it’s immaculately observed. So are her facial expressions and body language. I’ve seen Crankshaw in action before and she really is a fine actor.
Griffin and Thomas play nicely off each other – the affection between their characters clearly hasn’t gone irrevocably. Griffin’s Alex is a guitarist about to go on tour with his band and Thomas’s Nell is in marketing and anxiously obsessed about her current portfolio which relates to toothpaste. The point is that they are middle class but the Prince wants criminals, drug addicts and drop-outs for his programme. West’s role is largely requires overacting within the character and he hams up the man’s pontifications and presentations effectively.
It’s an ingenious idea for a play and it sits well in the Bridge House’s tiny space (good to see a full house at the performance I saw) although the point could have been made in 60 minutes rather than the 80 minutes The Real Estate runs.
