Holden Street Theatres. 31 May 2026
You are invited to, literally, a ringside seat to the most effed up wedding of the year. It all starts with a bit of hair straightening and the squish into the wedding dress as two sisters ready their bride-to-be sibling. The banter is free and easy. By the end of the play, it will be your hair that is standing on end as the vodka and beer bring out the dirty linen.
Director Nick Fagan propels the action with perpetual kinetics. A large number of actors are in constant motion abetted by a central revolve which seems to work when you don’t really need it and doesn’t revolve when it’s essential.
The accent coach is probably a little disappointed by consistency from some players but set design by Nick Fagan, lighting design and complex scene changes are all good stuff. The melodramatics appropriately escalate but hit a shriek level that was too high, too early and went on for too long, stealing the audience's energy for the finale.
Spencer Scholz plays the bridegroom and outsider to this post-industrial Midlands family that is still stuck in the abandoned coal mines. His character is as Polish as a pierogi; he fulfilled my stereotype of a successful East European immigrant. Bravo! Jo St Clair makes a fabulous foil with comic relief. Bravo! Brant Eustice’s demonstration of unrequited love is seriously grievous. Bravo! The action swells to a crescendo the likes of which I’ve never seen before. Bravo to the indefatigable Martha Lott! Generous bravos in a cast of high-quality actors.
You will empathise with strongly developed and portrayed characters who can’t change, who struggle to understand where does the love go, who don’t know whether to hold on or to let go of their myths - for teenagers aching to understand what growing up means. Beth Steel’s play has a smorgasbord of issues, and this cast and production will push more than a few of your buttons.
David Grybowski
When: 26 May to 14 Jun
Where: Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: holdenstreettheatres.online
