This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub: https://www.thereviewshub.com/second-summer-of-love-drayton-arms-theatre-london/

When Louise is awoken from her middle-aged motherhood suburbia by her daughter’s anti-drug homework, it triggers a period of personal reflection on the rave scene she was once so part of in this tame homage to 90s underground culture.

As Louise,  Emmy Happisburgh is ever-present in this hour-long piece. A midlife crisis could be on the horizon for Louise, clad now in neon gym wear, a long way from the lights and lasers of acid jazz gigs in the 90s. Confessing early on that she is bored with her relentlessly sensible life and even of parenting, and drifting day to day from running the school choir, shopping at Waitrose and attending a glowstick-laden Rave-a-cize. Her daughter’s (played by real-life daughter Rosa Strudwick) homework evokes her self-reflection, compounded by a chance meeting with first love Eddie that brings back all of Louise’s memories of her raving youth.

It is clear that this is a project of passion for Happisburgh, and the piece is at its strongest when we are thrown into Louise’s recollections of her time in the rave scene. It’s a neat effect, flooding the stage with neon, lasers and dry ice, and this combines nicely with Happisburgh’s multi-rolling of those in her past to evoke the energy and chaos of her youth. The piece blends humour and emotion with some success, too. It will resonate well with those of a similar background to Louise, who also reminisces about the community that raving created.

That said, despite the attempts to evoke the rave scene, the piece feels at times frustratingly stagnant. Scenes with Louise’s daughter are awkward, the stroppy teenage dialogue is overdone, and oddly, completely unsympathetic. At the same time, an encounter with Louise’s raver friend Brian (Christopher Freestone), whose mind is seemingly befuddled by years of substance abuse, is clumsy and at times excruciating. These scenes are there to remind Louise and the audience that maybe her current life is not all bad, but unfortunately, these are the weakest moments and, positioned towards the piece’s conclusion, disrupt the play’s momentum.

The play’s pulsating soundtrack does throw us into the rave scene with success and helps to evoke what this piece is at its core: a nostalgia trip. It will certainly please those with similar longings, but given that Louise’s midlife wobble seems to be over before it has even begun, it is just a shame that the beat does not always go on.