Director: Richard Vincent
It’s hard to know what to expect of an improvised theatre production that uses audience participation, but the spontaneity of the concept is enchanting and, despite the circumstances, Talking People’s show feels real.
In The Formula, six actors play a rather large family (mother, father, three children and a girlfriend) who regularly meet for the matriarch’s birthday, allowing us to see the changes taking place in each of their lives. The advertised plot concerns a formula which changes relations and finances, but it is quickly forgotten, as director Richard Vincent almost immediately breaks the fourth wall and introduces the audience to the cast by name. The variables are then set: the father, played by Kiell Smith-Bynoe, is established by Vincent, but the choice of his wife and the birth order of the three children is left to the audience.
This phase is fast-paced and exciting, driven by Vincent, as variables are decided with a deck of cards or by pulling themes out of a hat. We then proceed to an interview, which serves as an introduction to the characters. Leading the way like a dystopian talk-show host, Vincent interrogates the family about their perspectives on life and on each other, subtly suggesting paths for his characters to take, all while letting the actors choose and create their own sense of self.
At this stage, the actors have each chosen their character names: Victor and Helen, the loving and traditional working-class parents, followed by the children, Jed, Victor Jr. and Chelsea, and Tina, Jed’s girlfriend. As the actors bounce off each other’s responses, we can see the cogs turning as they quickly map out their goals, interests, personalities and relationships. The floor is opened up to the audience, who in turn ask their own questions, again offering avenues for the actors/characters to take and to think about.
Having set the scene, Act 1 finally commences: It is Helen’s 46th birthday. As these newly established personas and relationships are played out in real time, we laugh at the absurdity of some of them, notably Jim Caesar as the charismatic party boy, Olivia Benjamin as the hilariously shallow girlfriend and Bradley John as autistic gamer. Almost as if playing with SIMS, the audience members have become gods who watch their toys interact. The actors play their parts well, sticking to their character descriptions as best they can, with only a few hidden cackles in the midst, each striving to create the sense of family drama that we are all yearning for.
However, true conflict comes from time spent curating the many facets of a personality, and even the most dramatic of situations can feel superficial without the emotional impact built by empathy. This becomes the downfall of the performance, which, all while entertaining, stays broadly superficial and difficult to develop over its two short acts, as characters lack the thought-out profundity of a classic script. Then again, perhaps the reality is that the pettiness of family arguments and financial drama are often just that: surface-level. Whatever the case may be, it is nonetheless entertaining to watch things play out.
Runs until 19 September 2026
