Writer: Neil LaBute
Director: Lisa Spirling
The question of assisted dying remains a fraught and difficult topic to navigate. In a society that promotes free will, the choice to die remains a provocative source of conversation. It is this that the audience is forced to confront in Neil LaBute’s play, How To Fight Loneliness.
The production centres around married couple Brad (Archie Backhouse) and Jodie (Justina Kehinde), who are grappling with Jodie’s terminal brain cancer, and wrestling with Jodie’s determination to die. This determination draws Tate (Morgan Watkins) into their home, brought in at Jodie’s request to be the man to help her end her life.
Kehinde’s portrayal as the embittered Jodie, certain in her choice, is powerful. Jodie’s fierce anger at her situation is captured well by Kehinde, not just in explosive monologues but also through the gripping of furniture and clenching of fists, with Jodie desperate for her own agency and autonomy right until the end. Kehinde’s delivery is the strongest part of the show, bringing a believable portrayal to the fore despite some of the script’s awkward choices.
Backhouse’s desperate husband, Brad, represents a more conservative view of assisted dying, struggling to come to terms with his wife’s beliefs and instead willing her to keep going with futile treatment. It is a little harsh that the script makes Brad out to be the butt of jokes and as obtuse as he is, and while it is clear the performance is more about relieving the sufferer rather than those around them, it perhaps is a little crass to be as dismissive to Brad’s feelings as this piece largely is.
Rounding off the trio is Watkins’ Tate, who arrives as the potential fixer to Jodie’s problem. Watkins balances the script’s erratic approach to Tate with success, often bouncing quite quickly from some awkward, juxtaposing humour to more tender and endearing moments. It is tricky to work Tate out, going from apparently murdering his brother, to forlorn lover, through to goofy outsider, and these script decisions do not help the character, but Watkins does shine in the more tender moments, particularly during his parting words, which help to reiterate LaBute’s aims.
The script is thought-provoking but problematic. LaBute, drawing upon his own experiences with his dying mother, clearly feeds into this piece an obvious message about promoting assisted dying and the right to choose, which is not necessarily a problem itself but it is unfair how husband Brad, heartbroken at the prospect of losing his wife, and refusing to support her plans, is reduced to villain.
It is also hard to get to the root of the topic with so much comedy interspersed, particularly through Tate’s character, whose gormlessness jars against the seriousness of Jodie’s request, feeling a little forced despite Watkins’ efforts in the second half to add more depth to the role. Some of the twists in the second half feel a little forced, and despite the trio’s attempts to arrest the piece back to its central aims, the inclusion of a brief tryst is, a bit like Tate’s solution for Jodie, messy. Tate’s method is also unequivocally murder, so this too is difficult to reconcile with LaBute’s genuine aims to provoke conversations about this issue.
Despite the uneven script, How To Fight Loneliness nevertheless poses some difficult questions and forces audiences to somewhat reckon with their own views on assisted dying. While the production does not quite land all its punches, it is emotionally charged enough, thanks in particular to Kehinde’s hard work, to leave you pondering whether Jodie’s decision is the right one, and more widely, what is right in the first place.
Runs until 24 May 2025
Thought-Provoking
The Reviews Hub Score
