Disposable Darlings
Etcetera Theatre
18th August 2014

★★★★☆

What is it like to live with a sex doll? If you've always wanted to know the answer to this question (and I realise I'm ignoring all those wonderful people out there who do indeed live with a sex doll), then luckily this is a great show for you. Oh, and if you haven't considered it, you might still want to take a look in case it becomes a future possibility for you. This freakishly comic show is a happy collision of Toy Story and Drop Dead Fred and, despite its dark message, has a weird feel-good aspect.

Given he has decorated his home garishly for his own party, it's clear that Glen (Damien Hughes) should be getting ready for some birthday frolics, but instead our hero is still pootering around on his computer. His overly sombre attire doesn't seem to match the occasion, and from his nervousness on the phone, it's clear we're dealing with a socially Awkward person with a capital A. Sadie (Lindsay Styler), the delivery girl for Glen's very large birthday present, is aware of this character flaw, but - in her especially American way - steamrollers over Glen's shyness in a believably farcical way.

Next to arrive is Clive (Lyall Logan), Glen's brother, who assures him that he will be coming to the party proper when it kicks off later. Clive is obviously the extrovert in the family, whose casual well-dressed confidence actually proves more awkward for Glen to be around. As if to counteract this, Glen brings out his "girlfriend" Brooke (Emily Rose). It must be very difficult to play a rubber sex doll but here it is done so well, that until I saw her first blink after 5 minutes on stage, I actually couldn't work out whether it was a real actress or just a blonde, overly-made-up masturbation device (apologies to Rose, but this is meant as a compliment to her acting skills). Clive obviously pities Glen for his somewhat pathetic fantasy girlfriend, and hopes he will put her away once the real friends arrive.

Once Clive has left, Glen begins to attempt a reconciliation between the Brooke doll and Clive... At first this is uncomfortable for the audience to watch, as we are yet to realise that in addition to the Brooke doll, Glen also keeps a Clive Doll (James Ferguson). As these dolls slowly begin to speak (as Glen's imagination exerts more control over the scene), the audience begins to palpably realise the absurdity of it all, and through the daft physical comedy of Glen controlling every movement of every doll through manipulation of their bodies, we are introduced to the main scene of comic mania as the dolls interact in a wacky fantasy world of Glen's head.

The other doll "friend", Drake (Matthew Corbett) serves as the keeper-of-the-peace between the otherwise fickle dolls. And when Glen's birthday present Rene (Daisy Boyden) comes out of her box, the party really gets swinging. The physicality of the comedy is important, and as Hughes has to manhandle the other actors quite a bit, he must be in deceptively good shape. Unfortunately there is a little too much clumsiness in the dolls' movements, showing fractures in the discipline of the performance, but it is only this that takes the shine off the show.

The laughs come steadily throughout this ridiculous fantasy party, and we really enjoy the crazy world that our hero builds around him. The darkness of the self-centred premise is ever-present, but is somehow rolled-up into the fun, belying the clever way that we're let into Glen's already unhinged head. Disposable Darlings is a harmlessly fluffy place that just can't hold on to reality all that well. Still, the end of the play offers the tragic side to the comedy, as Glen is left alone with his now somewhat soiled dolls, with no real laughter, music or dancing, and the dolls are again, just dolls, providing nothing more than an underlining of his loneliness.

This play cherrypicks parts of physical theatre, ventriloquism, surrealism, music hall and mime as tools from its theatrical toolbox. The overall effect is somewhat dazzling; perhaps purists would say it lacks commitment to any one particular "school", but the different techniques blend together very well. The end of the imagined scene is abrupt, and the following melancholy could perhaps be explored more; the unspoken question of how right it is to be happy in a fantasy world versus unhappy in the real world would have been interesting to explore, perhaps in the final dialogue, where an olive branch is offered to Glen as an opportunity for human companionship.

It's a testament to Cracked Cup Theatre that we feel very sorry for Glen (as we did in last year's slightly creepier Companion Piece by Concorde Theatre) and wish he could just live out his life as a happy, privately exuberant person, whose friends are all in his head. At least that way he wouldn't be lonely.

Disposable Darlings ran from 18th to 20th August 2014 at the Etcetera Theatre, as part of the Camden Fringe. It next runs on 18th December 2014 at the Canal Café.

Nearest tube station: Camden Town (Northern)