Writers and Directors: Eva Tritschler and Emma François
It’s Bryony’s 25th birthday and she’s ready for the house party to end all house parties. As a struggling actor, she’s spent the day manifesting a new role that will kick off her acting career – a lead in an upcoming TRESemmé advert. While it may not be Spielberg’s next masterpiece, it’s at least a starting point to help get her and her best friend, flatmate and NHS hero, Sam out of their mould-ridden flat.
Careless written, produced and acted by Eva Tritschler and Emma François is a fun, easy-going play about two very relatable, likeable characters. The comedic portrayal of Bryony (Tritschler) throughout the performance is brilliantly consistent, and Tritschler does a great job of maintaining the balance of a slightly ditzy, fun-loving friend. Her high-energy dancing and singing interjections will make her a great candidate for parts in many musicals in the future. Sam (François) adds a sympathetic, socially current element to what would otherwise be a standard comedy. Her role as a keyworker highlights the struggles, dedication and endurance that is required for such a challenging job, and it’s great to see it fleshed out and interweaved into the characters’ conversations.
The big plot twist and catalyst halfway through the show seems to come out of nowhere, taking the play into a completely different direction and losing some of the strongly written, character-driven momentum that had built up in previous scenes. The incident doesn’t quite work within the wider storyline – making the audience lose respect for Sam and abandoning any championship of keyworkers with a strange plot direction. While it can be argued that the stress, long hours and mental toll that comes with being a carer, pushes her to the unthinkable, there are other less drastic and more sensitive ways to push the point home, rather than making her into a callous villain out of the blue, making the writing itself rather Careless.
Tritschler and François have a wonderful chemistry on stage and clearly have injected their naturally comedic personalities into the script. It would be great if there was a re-think on the plot twist to keep it more in line with the main narrative and ensure the central message stays in focus amongst the light-hearted chuckles.
Reviewed on 11 July 2022
