The Comeuppance review and star rating: ★★★
The topic of ‘kidulting’ – when millennial adults stretch out their youth in search of forever-fun – is on the lips of psychologists right now, as we question what middle age looks like today. There are still some young adults having traditional families, however, and the tensions that arise when friendship groups whose life paths have radically diverged reunite after decades is the subject of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play The Comeuppance. Alas, much like this group of millennials, the play feels a tad soupy and chaotic.
We’re on the porch of some anonymous American house, the property consumed by an almost pitch black stage; it’s uncomfortably dark, perhaps a bit too on-the-nose as a motif about the passing of life. There’s the sad artist, the duo experimenting with a ‘never too late’ hook-up no matter the consequences, someone joking about dying and another with PTSD, all revealed as the group neck copious amounts of rum punch. Jacobs-Jenkins writes funny, prescient bits, and there are clearly gripping questions in here about modern adult identities, but it all feels a little too claustrophobic.
There are too many characters with too much backstory, and too much to say that veers into ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’. The script would have benefited from a focus on one or two narrative strains – as it is it’s hard to get invested by any one thread.
You also end up over-stimulated by New York-based set and costume designer Arnulfo Maldonado’s plunging, immersive porch and the brilliant, creative use of lighting. Throw in some fourth-wall-breaking addresses to the audience – which feel underdeveloped – and you quickly realise there is simply too much going on, resulting in a play that’s more a series of themes than a cohesive story.
That’s no fault of the cast, nor Eric Ting’s direction. Everything is richly platformed, especially by Harry Potter actor Katie Leung, who is superb.
The Comeuppance plays at the Almeida until 18 May
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