Remote Goat - Review: End of Desire/Escaping Alice

Thu 08 Nov 2012

Written by Sam McCaffery

An unexpected delight awaits in the intimate confines of the Studio at York Theatre Royal. A double bill of surprise and humour, the outrageous and the intimate, love and giant mouse heads; all can be found in the back-to-back plays End of Desire/Escaping Alice.

Both star Jack Ashton and Sarah Applewood and share a bedroom set where all the action takes place. They also share similar themes of love and relationships but it is there where the similarities end. End of Desire is a crude and bizarre comedy set in Belfast about what happens on a one night stand after the sex is over. The two characters share an intimate and passionate conversation about love and sex, politics and religion, the nature of fame and the need to hide; all the while revealing more and more of themselves to the other. From its shocking beginning to a touching end it's a hilarious rollercoaster ride that you can't look away from.

Escaping Alice is something else entirely, a psychological tale about the end of a relationship between Simon and Alice. They appear to be a loving couple in the beginning but that quickly changes when Alice begins desperately searching for an escape from the room. But then this dynamic shifts and up until the end of the play it's not clear who is trapped and who isn't. A much more serious affair then the first play, it never quite reaches the same heights.

Ashton and Applewood give exemplary performances in both with Applewood especially shinning in End of Desire as self conscious, erratic and eccentric Irish girl. Written by David Ireland, End of Desire is the highlight of the evening but both plays provide a fantastic night of theatre.

Read the review on the Remote Goat website.