Hello, Box Office

Hello, Box Office is another new piece of writing that has cropped up on this year's fringe scene falling into the unfortunate category of 'concept over content’. 

With its marketing materials promising an absurdist comedy about three lowly box office staff attempting to navigate the futuristic theatre industry as yet more funding cuts are announced; the reality was instead a rather disappointing delivery of some promising text. The writers often have funny ideas but just haven't fleshed them out enough to warrant a whole script of them. As a result the pace suffers to fill the time as there is no genuine substance to put in its place. 

It also felt lacklustre to walk into the Central Film School and see such an extensive space so sparsely filled. Now, bigger is not always better - we learnt that one from Mean Girls - however to leave so much empty room in such opportune facilities seems a shame if done without reason. Other than the running joke of red gaffer tape creating 3 squares to mark the 'box' offices, there didn't seem to be a particular explanation for this and it made for an atmosphere of general dissatisfaction.

Even this quip was only minorly humorous at best and a little limiting at its worst, then completely ignored for the second half of the show. Given that practically all the casts’ initial energy is spent building this up, the direction allows for details to be missed during the few quicker scenes, which completely breaks this illusion. Perhaps more guidance and a different approach in this department would've assisted with the overall impact of the piece.

It is hard to describe exactly what happens in the 50 minutes of this production, as there are so many nonsensical twists and turns that I'm not sure any of the audience could (or were supposed to) understand. This could be perceived as one of the more positive aspects, as it encourages you to get lost in the silliness rather than trying to find a method to the madness.

If Five Pigeons Pecking a Bin Bag had written this as a shorter farcical piece for a YouTube short film fest then I feel it may have had a better response. It's ironic as one of the only serious sections of the play discusses making art for arts sake, without a particular demographic in mind. Whilst inarguably important, this notion should not be used as a framework when you are in fact devising a show to sell tickets for.

Daniella Finch was the highlight - a total firecracker with fabulous comedic skills, including her tone and timing. The latter, however, was unfortunately let down by her fellow actors as overlapping lines disjointed the flow, pulling the audience out of what were intended to be hilariously intense moments. On this note, the stakes (or lack thereof) was another issue. At no point in the play did you feel as though there was any rhyme or reason to their actions or emotions, and this is partially down to the lack of context. It's likely that this has gone unnoticed as the opening sequence provides very explicit exposition, and so no one has considered expanding on this throughout.

To conclude, it's a great skeleton sketch but ultimately overcomplicated and under-developed.

This show was reviewed on the 18th October 2024 at The Bread & Roses Theatre, London as part of Lambeth Fringe.  More details of the Fringe can be found here: Lambeth Fringe | Performing Arts Festival | Sept - Oct

Review written by Katie Anna McConnell

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