This new play was staged in 2019 at the Trafalgar Studios in London’s glittering West End. It’s a negative review, and quite deservedly so.
Written by Michael Dennis, directed by Andrew Keates. Trafalgar Studios.
2/5.
Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Marina Sirtis stars as Marianne, an actress who has seen better days both personally and professionally. Through a young devotee of her titular 80’s science fiction show she discovers another alien world, that of fandom. One of the many problems with Michael Dennis’ debut comedy is that this has all been done before, most notably in 2002’s Cruise of the Gods. That’s not to say that there isn’t much more to explore dramatically about fans, but this play doesn’t do it. A parallel between cosplay and football is frustratingly undeveloped, as is the positive side of being a fan for those experiencing difficult childhoods. It’s also crushingly unfunny, unless you find the name “Walsall” inherently hilarious. And at two and a half hours it is far too long.
The length is partly down to staging scenes from Dark Sublime. I will always get a thrill from phrases such as “gamma quadrant” but these interludes become increasingly less welcome as the play drags on. As in Cruise of the Gods the show template is The Tomorrow People, with the great Mark Gatiss voicing the TIM-like computer.
Making her West End debut Sirtis is a very likeable lead, with Jacqueline King superb as the best friend who she’s in love with. This aspect of the show is by far the most interesting but ends up jostling for space and consequently underdeveloped. It’s also somewhat unlikely that in 2019 a struggling actress would not have tried to exploit her previous sci-fi notability.
Doctor Who fans will enjoy the incidental music, although I’m sure the Performing Right Society would have something to say about the lack of programme credits. Said programme contains various mock-ups of Dark Sublime merchandise which will be instantly recognisable to any child of the 70s. To give Dennis his credit this is a refreshingly uncynical depiction of fandom and apart from one perplexing sneer at Big Finish, generally amiable. On this evidence his strength as a writer is characterisation, hopefully his future work will focus on that. Make it so.