It is good to see so many new musicals at the Southwark playhouse and this is no exception.
We are introduce to Daniel Defoe (Stuart Thompson), an astronaut who has absconded with a spaceship and we don’t know why. It is explained to us through the flailing relationship between him and his girlfriend Emily (Poppy Gilbert) which forms the base of the play. We flit back and forth to discover what went wrong, cutting between a timeless domestic sitting room and a space capsule.
The dialogue is sharp and sparky with Poppy Gilbert expertly demonstrating her ability to deliver. Emily is a flaming redhead on speed, stomping up and down aggravated, aggressive and manipulative – things she blames Daniel for, but it is she who is the bully. She aggrandises the intimidation of others. Emily is the typical under-aroused neurotic, she needs drama – if there is no conflict she will manufacture some.
Stuart Thomson is compellingly pathetic as the decent guy who just wants to have a nice life with his fun girlfriend. But beneath it seethes resentment, anger and pain formed by thousands of stored-up hurts. The ‘degrees of cruelty’ in Daniel’s life are listed in full, all 2033 of them displayed on the back wall. Part funny, but part alarming – and the author has gone to a lot of trouble thinking of all the hurtful things which must have happened to Daniel to make him so depressed and depressing, and to make him feel vulnerable. For Emily, her father made her walk through fire on a film set as a child, she knows how to put on performances; ‘You talk like you are doing a show’, Daniel tells her.
Each have their own bits of experience which ‘made’ them. ‘Am I good?’ ‘Am I kind?’, they ask each other as they verbally beat each other up. This relationship feels so real. The splintering dialogue gives penetrating insights into what people see of themselves when they are addressing a partner and about why people do what they do, even if it is going to endanger their happiness.
Thompson’s sensitive delivery of the song ‘Emily’ near the end is poignant and heart-rending – you could hear a pin drop listening to his exquisite rendition. And the entrance of a surprise comforter at the end is delightful. However, you realise with a sinking feeling that this show is actually about a person who is in the process of committing suicide after leaving a bad relationship. Will he make it back to Emily or not?
As a musical, there are deficiencies: a couple of the song lyrics are good (Emily singing about herself, Daniel about Emily – a playlist of songs is in the programme would have been helpful), but generally characters burst into song and we wonder why. Did this piece need to be a musical at all? The songs are not bad, but not great either, the music unmemorable. Three narrators (who also sing) are two too many – they are not needed; they sit in on the action on set, indistinguishable from the audience, interrupting the intimacy of the main couple. The best part of the play is the dialogue which is compelling.
A stand-out moment is the appearance of a sea turtle representing the peace that Daniel might have had. This is an exhausting, but rewarding evening, we were glad to see the turtle too.
Venue: Southwark Playhouse
Writer and Composer: Theo Jamieson
Co-Creator and Director: Adam Lenson
Cast: Poppy Gilbert. Stuart Thompson, Rupert Young, Gina Beck, Simbi Akande
Running Time 1hour 45 mins. No interval
Dates: 3 April -16 May 2026