‘How Soon Is Now?’ is the latest work by Siân Owen, produced by the award-winning Manchester-based theare company Box of Tricks. We’re in the main theatre, designed to replicate a late 90s club, with spray-painted scaffolding creating different levels and areas, and a light-up dance floor. We’re welcomed to the action by a bucket hat-wearing DJ Spin Jim (Darragh Cowley) whose relentless energy is soon added to by Polly (Laura Robinson in her professional debut) and Angie (Kaitlyn Akinpelumi). At the edge of the action, Jean (Bethan McLean) lurks nervously in a big coat. The club environment feels real and vivid, although it would’ve been nice to see more complexity from DJ Slim Jim, given he was such a well-realised presence. The show features an array of 90s classics sung and performed live by the cast, who all have gorgeous voices, and supported by a band made up of Cowley, LJ Willow, and Tom Woolford, also playing clubgoers as needed and the latter doubling up as Jean’s boyfriend Carl.
The story and performers are compelling; Polly is mystified by Angie’s sudden nihilism, especially in such a joyful location, and we see Jean’s fraught journey to the club through flashbacks. Her troubled relationship with Carl is well-drawn, and Woolford brings an excellent undercurrent of petty cruelty to the part, which gradually becomes more and more toxic (‘I feel like a shadow.’ ‘Yeah, you’re my shadow.’) McLean really captures Jean’s tremulous vulnerability in the face of this; even though it’s fairly predictable where things are headed, their performances make the relationship feel tangible and painful. The songs are beautifully done, but slow things down at the start, and have more impact paired with the emotional moments later on. The band were often slightly louder than the singers which meant it was occasionally a struggle to hear the lyrics.
The writing particularly shines in the second half – it’s always impressive to have characters speak profoundly in a way that feels authentic, and the climactic scenes are beautifully written and delivered, even if the theme of abusive relationships perhaps was too conveniently universal to all the women. But the performances were visceral and brilliant across the board, and the show really captured both the joy and misery of relationships in a vibrant setting.