Consumption
It is the elegantly furnished and tastefully demure drawing room of a suburban couple, the small dining table for two in the corner, the drinks trolley beside it, Charlie poorly so reading a paperback as he lounges on the settee in his pyjamas, the only things which spoil the illusion of perfect domesticity his boyfriend Victor dragging a body through the front door then the intrusion of new neighbour Annette, keen to introduce herself and her cookies as they scrabble to appear normal.
Written and directed by Connor James Reid and performed by Joe Noble, Euan Krasinski and Harper Towns, Consumption is a three-hander comedy of manners which cannibalises others but contains little originality or spark which could qualify as nourishment, Eating Raoul tied up with Rope, the premise begging to be as Raw as the menacing and sinister brilliance of The Hunger but instead a stilted anaemic sitcom which lacks even the telegraphed twist of Cannibal Mukbang.
The multiple scene transitions signifying the passage of time as Annie and housebound Charlie become friends despite Vic’s obvious disdain, with each requiring costume changes and the stage to be reset they introduce unacceptable delay into a show which already runs twice the length the emaciated skeleton can support, neither dramatic nor horrifying and failing to be funny, long silences only effective when there is tension rather than indifference.
Even before her tardy realisation a full hour in that her hosts are cannibals Annie knows they eat meat, prompting a deep discussion of contrary views with the former farmgirl turned vegetarian which never happens, throughout awkward small talk and finger painting seem to be placeholders for any confrontation of substance, the act of Consumption hinging on Vic’s burning passion which would lead him to murder for his lover Charlie when instead they behave like squabbling spoiled children.
Consumption continues at St Augustine’s on George IV Bridge until Sunday 24th August
