This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub: https://www.thereviewshub.com/people-in-cages-drayton-arms-theatre-london/

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Being locked behind bars does not sound like anyone’s idea of comedy, yet that is the setup in David Henry Wilson’s People In Cages.

As the piece unfolds in under 90 minutes, the play takes on several different episodes, all centring around caged people, who force onlooking characters to question themselves and their own values. The premise itself is an interesting take, coming face to face with a supposed killer, a cruel cult targeting children or a caged happy couple supposedly the epitome of married bliss, are all sound concepts, but the play, and its script, fail to live up to its potential.

There are some strengths, though. Gülfem Özdogan’s design works effectively to create a sense of claustrophobia for the trapped characters. The placing of a cylindrical cage works well to enable spectating characters to leer and encircle each episode’s central figure. At the same time, the lighting, making good use, on occasions, of sterile white light, does help to evoke some of the piece’s more sinister moments.

The production is also boasting a hard-working cast who are making the most of the material given to them. Jill Riddiford, John Kay Steel, Joe Urquhart, and Kaylah Copeland all perform numerous roles as the show runs through its episodic form, each taking moments to be characters trapped inside the cage as well as outside of it. Kaylah Copeland is particularly strong during the play’s first story, coming close to John Kay Steel’s supposed murderer character, in a moment of genuine intrigue and vulnerability.

Making up the quintet, Finlay McLean is solely Mr Jacobs across all three stories. Jacobs’ character takes many forms from sinister businessman to twisted zealot, and McLean lifts well from the dialogue to create a cruel character. However, Jacobs, like the rest of the piece’s individuals, falls foul of underwhelming character detail.

Labelled a dark comedy, the production is desperately light on punchlines. The clumsy dialogue forces the play’s ideas on regular occasions without subtlety, and the piece struggles to find its balance within its characters, with awkward phrasing and out-of-character speech choices failing to hit the mark. The shock moments are a little too blunt and predictable, and unfortunately, it struggles to let some creative, yet obvious, ideas breathe for long enough for any real impact. The first two stories feel a little more refined, while the third, focusing on a cult targeting children and the play’s ‘premiere’, lacks conviction and feels too dissimilar, tonally, from the rest of the piece.

As ideas go, there is a lot of potential in People In Cages. That said, it suffers from a drab and rushed execution that never gains much momentum. Despite the cast’s noble attempts, it struggles to find any humour in its interesting premise, feeling as stilted and as restrained as those behind the bars themselves.