The Unfriend

I was delighted to be invited to review The Unfriend, a modern play first produced in 2022 and billed as ‘an hilarious modern comedy of manners’ and presented in what I assume will be, Fylde Coast’s new home, The Chapman Studio at Lowther Pavilion.

The Unfriend certainly lived up to its press, in that it was hilarious, and Fylde Coast certainly did it justice, with very, very many laugh out loud moments which were apparently appreciated by the whole audience. The play begins on a cruise ship where we meet Phil and Debbie, superbly played by Phil Allan and Catherine Hughes who are befriended by the apparently archetypical American, Elsa, played by Debbie Couchman.  Elsa manoeuvres an email address out of Debbie after she insists if they are ever in Denver, they should look her up and saying she is unable to remember her home e-mail address but gives her full name, so they can look her up and as she now has their email they can ‘keep in touch’.   Peter and Debbie are less than keen, but good manners prevail, and they assume that like all holiday friendships they will never meet again, wrong again!!!

Back home, we meet Debbie and Peter’s teenaged ‘children’ Alex played by Anthony Dawson and Rosie played by Orla O’Beirne, both beautifully played as everyone’s idea of the worst of teenagers, Alex permanently attached to a computer game, and Rosie, so badly done by and misunderstood, and their neighbour well played by Don Green, possibly the most boring and petty individual, with a grievance about a garden wall, but whilst remaining absolutely polite and never showing any real emotion for anything, he could almost be a cardboard cut-out of himself.

As life returns to ‘normal’ Elsa, predictably invites herself to stay, at which stage Debbie Googles Elsa and discovers she is apparently a mass murderer, which is where the ‘manners’ come into the play, as we see Peter & Debbie trying to work out how they can politely tell Elsa she is not welcome in their home because they have reason to believe she is a mass murderer and they have teenage children.  The only other member of the cast is P.C Junkin played by Chris Sandiford.

Of course, there is a twist in the tail, but no spoilers here, you will have to go and see it to find out more.

The group made great use of the intimate ‘studio’ space and a large cinema type screen projecting the sea for the opening scene.   

Put simply it was an extremely enjoyable and entertaining evening, with some great acting across the whole cast, not a weak link anywhere.  The audience laughed, sniggered and chuckled throughout the evening, with an excellent set, great characterisations, and a fast-moving production, with very many laugh out loud moments.  Many, many congratulations on a great production and thank you SO much for inviting me to see your premiere production in The Chapman Studio.

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