What a sweet little show Tim Gilvin and Imogen Palmer have made. Imagining a couple after the apocalypse, making a life together that’s a bit like lockdown (but in this case without the baking), this play with songs is entertaining, endearing and obsessed with comfort food.
Palmer’s book takes the cliché about falling in love with the last person on earth and adds extra flavour – think Worcester sauce on your cheese on toast. Because Jass and Finn were a couple in the ‘old world’… yet she has a secret. Even after world catastrophe, true love doesn’t run smooth.
The action relies too much on audio diaries for exposition, going back and forth in time. Director Georgie Rankcom tries hard to keep the action moving and uses the sparse stage well. Gilvin’s music and lyrics are catchy and satisfyingly neat but leave you wanting more.
If this reaction seems lukewarm, like a pizza slice from Gregg’s after five o’clock, then why am I so keen on the show? And I really am. The answer is its humour, its characters and its performers.
Jass and Finn are adorable. For want of a better description, they are as cute as chocolate buttons. Their affection for each other is believable, as are their problems, sensitively examined in the light of their self-proclaimed Queer status. Deep-rooted anxieties and misgivings are intelligently explicated and – surprise – they have little to do with the end of the world.
The glacé cherry on top of the Mr Kipling cake is the show’s humour. This is what makes Help! We’re Still Alive memorable. With songs about canned pineapples and supermarkets, the mix of quirks and down-to-earth concerns is just… lovely. The jokes provide that je ne sais quoi, as Jass might say, that great shows require.
Elijah Ferreira and Jade Johnson play Finn and Jass. The casting and the chemistry are perfect – they are both superb comedians who aid the script enormously. Angst is acknowledged, but Ferreira and Johnson make you care and try to reassure.
The affection and respect the characters share give us a sense that things will be all right in the end. After all, even if your Ginster’s pasty is cold, it is still delicious.
The affection and respect the characters share give us a sense that things will be all right in the end. After all, even if your Ginster’s pasty is cold, it is still delicious. The affection and respect the characters share give us a sense that things will be all right in the end. After all, even if your Ginster’s pasty is cold, it is still delicious.
Until 15 October 2022
Photo by Danny Kaan