Culture writer Harshi Modi reviews Rotten, finding it to be a fast-paced and enticing comedy-drama filled with lots of twists that will keep you at the edge of your seat
While making my way to the Birmingham Rep for Rotten, I was curious to know how a comedy thriller would be staged. How would the action and chaos be choreographed? Or would they only be implied? I would find out over the course of the next hour.
As I stepped into the Rep’s secondary theatre, the set design was the first thing that stuck out to me. Instead of an elevated stage, the set was laid on the floor and consisted of a few beanbags and a table brimming with used food packets and alcohol bottles. The room was marked out on the stage using several colourful playmats, however the rationale behind this decision remained unclear. As I took my seat, I noticed that there was only a small amount of seating, which would make for a more intimate experience of the play.
Rotten, written by Josie White and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair, follows three actresses – Saoirse, Sonia and Coco – who are struggling to make ends meet in London. The girls aren’t virtuous protagonists to root for as you would expect; Sonia says it best within the show: ‘We’re rotten to the core. We lie, we cheat, we play games […]’. Every night, they look out their living room window to entertain themselves with the comings and goings of social media celebrity Iris. One night, they spot her in a compromising position and film it. Sonia’s drug dealer boyfriend Ross inspires them to blackmail Iris, and the rest of the tumultuous night unfolds as they attempt to follow through.
Mounting pressure leads to shocking betrayals that leave the viewers audibly gasping
Mounting pressure leads to shocking betrayals that leave the viewers audibly gasping. Some of the plot twists felt quite unbelievable but they did add to the comicality of the show. Being a comedy thriller, there were jokes throughout the play which landed really well with the audience.
Throughout its duration, Rotten touches on various themes such as gentrification, cost of living and the Northern Irish ‘Troubles.’ A character struggles to show affection due to trauma from homophobic experiences in her past. Another is stuck in a toxic relationship with a love-bombing partner.
The most prominent themes are those of class divide and capitalism which are explored by contrasting the protagonists with the posh Iris. Even amongst the trio, one of them has a wealthier background which creates tension within the dynamic. Characters launch into soliloquies about their struggles being working class. In these moments, I felt the writing was too on the nose; it felt like the audience was being talked to rather than the themes being seamlessly integrated within the dialogue.
The play tries to tackle too many themes to be able to explore any one to a satisfying degree. Perhaps it was because it only ran for 60 minutes, but even themes that were explored to some depth felt inconclusive as there was no discussion of potential remedy. It might have been more digestible for the viewers to look at just one or two themes and expand on these.
I would recommend it if you are looking for a comedy-drama with twists
The acting was fantastic across the board. Most of the actors put on rather strong working-class accents which felt true to their characters. Nicola Taggart, Kavita Vyas and Sam Butters, who play the characters of Saoirse, Sonia and Ross respectively, particularly stood out to me.
I had more conflicting feelings about the writing. One of the highlights was the short monologues delivered by each character that added a great deal of depth to them. As they embarked on these, the spotlight would focus on them as all the other lights dimmed out. When these monologues were in the form of anecdotes about transformative experiences from the character’s lives, they added to the story and allowed viewers to connect with them. However, some of them were essentially lectures to the audience and in a classic case of telling and not showing, they were neither moving nor memorable.
The short play was tightly written, fast-paced and held the audience’s attention the whole time. I would recommend it if you are looking for a comedy-drama with twists, but if you are in the market for more of a traditional thriller, I would give this play a skip.
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