BWW Reviews: BREEDERS, St James Theatre, September 8 2014

It feels like all around me, friends are getting married and having babies - in fact I can hardly refresh my Instagram feed without a photo of a smiling/crying/laughing baby appearing on the homepage somewhere.

Ben Ockrent's play tells the story of Caroline (Angela Griffin) and Andrea (Tamzin Outhwaite) who, now that they're married, want to start a family. Enter Jimmy, Andrea's brother (played by Nicholas Burns) and his girlfriend Sharon (Jemima Rooper). Caroline and Andrea have decided that they want to have a child which will be genetically both of theirs, which results in them asking Jimmy if he'll help to father the child. Sharon is understandably reluctant - although very liberal, it's a lot to ask of someone - especially your own brother. After much convincing it is agreed that the two families will move in together to create one family unit and before long the insemination kit is ordered and Jimmy and Caroline are put on ridiculous diets to help increase their chances of conception. And although this is a close family unit, the audience wonder throughout if they can survive this as Sharon starts to feel more and more lonesome and Jimmy begins to get fed up.

Director Tamara Harvey ensures a smooth production, with lots of action and plenty of laughs. This is one of a handful of productions where I found myself laughing out loud - though I was not alone, the laughs at certain points in the play were deafening. This is recognition of the fantastic chemistry between the four actors - Jemima Rooper in particular has the most outstanding comic timing, and her rendition of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart while smothering her face in yoghurt and dancing in front of a wind machine had the audience in hysterics. I did find the singing of cover songs in Swedish during scene changes to be a bit odd and there are some very cliché moments, but the superb acting and fantastic one-liners (particularly by Griffin) is enough to overlook these. The writing sometimes makes it feel like a sitcom and I have a feeling Breeders would do very well as a television series. One of the most charming things I liked about Breeders is that it didn't focus on the fact that this was a lesbian couple trying for a baby, it emphasised the disappointment, longing, fear and excitement that any couple trying to get pregnant would feel.

Breeders is a modern piece which will make you laugh out loud thanks to Ockrent's refreshing writing and a fantastic cast. Are there cliches and moments of silliness aplenty? Yes. But that still doesn't detract from the difficult emotional journey that this family find themselves on.

Breeders continues at St James Theatre until 4 October

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan

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