Branden Jacobs-Jenking’s new play ‘The Comeuppance’ took to the stage at the Almeida Theatre last night directed by Eric Ting. Set directly after the COVID-19 pandemic the play revolves around a high school friendship group, namely the MARG – Multi-Ethnic Reject Group, and their 20th reunion. Despite the simple premise, while waiting for their limo, topics of past love; the pandemic; PTSD; 9/11; and more arise. All are over-loomed however, by the ever-present, ever- changing character of death, who embodies each character at separate times in the single 2 hour act to address the audience directly and liken itself to them as a “watcher”.

The detail of death having a British accent and the characters having an American one was small but oddly impactful. The cast effortlessly switched between the two which is a true testament to their skill as it could’ve easily taken the audience out of the suspension entirely.

The set was well thought out thanks to Arnulfo Maldonado as it made you feel as if you were stood opposite the house and porch upon which the action was taking place. You could see into the house as much as any passerby or onlooker could see into yours. There seemed to be a significance with not allowing us inside, whether it was to make is slightly uneasy or more exposed I am unsure but either way it felt naturalistic rather than a stylised open-house setting. My personal favourite aspect of the set was the arrival of the heavily anticipated limo to take the MARG to the reunion which appears as a set of headlights advancing from the dark facing directly at the audience. Although it appears normal the entire set has something oddly suspicious about it from the flickering fly trap to the horror-film-opening style porch.

Natasha Chivers and Emma Laxton designed the lighting and sound respectively, both of which felt appropriate and effective. It was Skylar Fox and Dr. Will Houstoun however, who made the most impact personally with the magic and visual effects. Instances such as the death character appearing to place his drink down in thin air and have it float and Paco while mid-seizure floating two feet off the ground, contributed heavily to interest of the audience.

It was the subtly touch we needed not to disengage. The cast themselves were remarkable. Yolanda Kettle ‘Patriots’ was yet again brilliant and a complete stand out along with Anthony Welsh ‘The Merchant of Venice’, both of whom embodied truth and reliability rather than playing the
mere surface. The cast as a whole however were remarkable strong.

Eric Ting has done a sterling job directing this play, I can find no faults in his choices. Given the heavy topics of the play he handles and portrays them exceptionally well. This plays letdown however is I fear it tackles too many of said topics at once without truly landing with any of them. The story of human connection is lost throughout there being so much going on and the relevance of death as a character feels meaningless. When you find out death waiting for one of the characters your are waiting in suspense to find out it is only for that character long after the end of the play, which hits half as much as if something were actually to happen. I couldn’t quite answer the question why I cared about this story or why I wanted to know what happened next. All characters have their likeable and unlikeable moments making it hard to root for any one of them resulting in many audience members clocking out.

Overall the play was produced very well, the set the ensemble the direction. In terms of events for a two hour one act play, so much is talked about but not much happens, I feel this could be brilliant if extended to two acts and time given to why this story is being told now, overall however an enjoyable experience.

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