The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Oh, the Humanity at the Soho Theatre

Oh, the Humanity at the Soho Theatre | Theatre review
18 September 2012
Emma Cooper
Avatar
Emma Cooper
18 September 2012

Debuting in London after a sell-out run in Edinburgh, Oh, the Humanity and Other Good Intentions is a short, sharp, touching snapshot of the lives of a handful of characters, each struggling with the painful and often absurd notion of being alive.

Directed insightfully and with appropriate simplicity by Erica Whyman, the production is a series of five monologues and duologues acted sensitively by Tony Bell, Lucy Ellinson and John Kirk. Ellinson in particular is captivating – she moves astonishingly quickly from character to character with impressive ease, and displays both vulnerable tenderness and perfect comic timing.

While very much separate sketches, each scene links thematically with an overriding sense of searching, truthfulness and perhaps even desperation. It works as a whole linear piece as the play gathers momentum. There’s the interview with the failing sports coach – a defeated figure searching for poetry in a vulgar world where his life is “barely a shambles”. Then there’s the man and woman recording videos for a dating service – this is a lovely observation of the sexes with the woman speaking in a stream-of-consciousness fashion and the man delivering series of statements, and, unaware of each other, their speeches seem to dovetail without ever actually touching. This scene is very funny – an exercise in the art of inadvertently “unselling” oneself – and mixes in the hope, worry, self-consciousness and complexity we all feel.

The play seems to gently hold up a mirror, leaving us with a heightened sense of self-awareness and emotions prickling under the surface of the skin. It’s cleverly designed so that we’re involved – it’s not quite audience participation, but we’re definitely all in it together. The production has impact without being too intense, and is invasive without being uncomfortable. Considering that it asks us to question the enormity of life, its rocketing pace, and our often bewildered search for stillness, it’s an enjoyable ninety minutes, thanks to the brilliant writing of the acclaimed Will Eno. Eno, who recently won a PEN Literary Award, achieves a beautiful balance of sadness and wonder, humour and solemnity, delivering a poignant and unique theatrical experience that will leave you at once comforted by the commonality of our anxieties and unsettled as they are laid bare.

★★★★★

Emma Cooper
Photos: Topher McGrillis

Oh, The Humanity is at the Soho Theatre until 13th October 2012. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Watch actor Tony Bell speak about acting in the production here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

“When you’re presented with different dilemmas in life, you respond accordingly”: Debbie Kurup on The Cher Show

Mae Trumata
Read More

2:22 A Ghost Story at Criterion Theatre

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

The House of Shades at Almeida Theatre

★★★★★
Csilla Tornallyay
Read More

Grease at Dominion Theatre

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

House of Ife at Bush Theatre

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

Banter Jar at Lion & Unicorn Theatre: “An authentic and timely one-woman show”

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Emergency
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Diary of a Fleeting Affair (Chronique d’une Liaison Passagère)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Don Juan
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Triangle of Sadness
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Emergency
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Triangle of Sadness
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Aftersun
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Paris Memories (Revoir Paris)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Twenty8k | Movie review
The Big Mix: Macmillan Cancer Support charity event