Image: stage@leeds

When going to see a new piece of student writing, expectations are mixed. The excitement of fresh work is regrettably tinged with an apprehension about the potential cringing that it might induce. Thankfully, BackBreak Theatre’s performance of George Howard’s new play ‘Lapse’ fulfilled only the former of these expectations, and the audience found themselves cringing only at the crude jokes of Jimmy, brought energetically and hilariously to life by Sam Newton.  At one point, an audience member actually slapped their knee in a gut wrenching guffaw, which if nothing else indicates that BackBreak can still reign in the crowds after their sell out show at Canal Mills last year.

‘Lapse’ follows Gabs, Jimmy, Lara, Squiff and Tom as they reunite for a boozy weekend in Scotland at the traditional family house of Tom’s lately deceased military Grandfather.  Recently graduated and in their early twenties, the reunion brings to light career and relationship stresses and triumphs, and the tensions these create as the five childhood friends catch up.  For students whose graduation is imminent, such themes might seem worryingly close to home, yet Howard does a compelling job of articulating the excitement and confusion of graduate life.

The name-dropping Gabs harps on about her well connected friends, whilst Lara looks down her nose somewhat at the others in her desire to ‘settle down’.  The group mockingly doubt the ‘success’ of arrogant flat salesman Jimmy whilst butt-of-the-jokes Squiff has surprisingly scored a job in the BBC newsroom.  However, the real narrative of the play follows Tom’s split loyalties between his family’s expectation that he will join the army and the ‘stable’ career he is developing for himself as a surveyor.  It is when he receives a congratulatory bottle of champagne from his parents that it is revealed he hid his application to Sandhurst from the group, a catalyst which brings pent-up tensions to the boil, culminating in a bitter and accusatory bickering match between all characters. Although Ben Parsons’ portrayal of the lovable Squiff was seamless, the character seemed only to exist as a rather functional peacemaker which made for a dramatically predictable and safe conclusion where the friends made up and Tom decided to stick with his military training.

That said, the play was more about the tests and trials of old friendships than passing judgements on career choices, and so its conclusion is perhaps fitting of this ultimately light-hearted comedy. This more serious, overarching storyline was framed by a real-time farcical drama – unbeknownst to the anxious host Tom, the other characters devastatingly and drunkenly pierced a hole in the portrait of his grandfather, whom he was still mourning.  Hilarity ensued in trying to distract him, and it was with on-the-mark comic timing and streams of one-liners that the cast proved their pristine acting. Tom was made to sit on the ‘naughty chair’, facing the audience, while the others frantically threw party poppers over the portrait and cringingly patched it up with tape. Squiff also sends all the characters to sit on the naughty chair to calm their out of control row. As they come to realisations of their personal mistakes, the audience cannot help but snigger as they shamefully tried to all cram onto only one chair.

It is this combination of real-life student anxieties and genuinely hilarious comic writing that shows exciting promise for student drama. The ability of the cast to simultaneously invoke raucous laughter and portray a heart-warming tale ultimately suggests that the power of old friendships conquers against the odds. Let’s hope BackBreak Theatre aren’t really all condemned to the naughty chair.

Lottie Webb