Review: DOUGHNUT DRIVE, Drayton Arms Theatre

What do grief, crime films and doughnuts have in common? Upon first glance very little; however, in Finella Waddilove’s Doughnut Drive they are thrown together in the most unlikely way to create an undeniably hilarious, if dark, comedy. 

Best friends Yaz and Bex work for their fathers' businesses across the road from each other, their friendship helping to distract them from the potential boredom of their existences. But a year after losing her father, Bex is still struggling. Running a car dealership with a suspended driving licence is bad enough, but when Bex decides to take a midnight drive things go from bad to worse. Written and directed by Waddilove, Doughnut Drive is described as a comedy-crime-thriller and the Essex-based play certainly lives up this description. 

The story is brought wonderfully to life through Waddilove and Sarah Parkins’s performances. Parkins’s portrayal of Bex perfectly captures the many layers of grief. She is impatiently navigating both her life and friendship with Yaz with an almost permanent frown of exhausted exasperation upon her face. The depression permeates the black box while she is alone, assisted by the darkened lighting.

By contrast, Yaz is full of life and a childlike chaos that often inspires laughter from the audience. Waddilove’s performance is a passionate and joyful one, which fluctuates between sweet and understandably infuriating for Bex. This unlikely duo are excellently matched; their relationship succeeding in its symbiosis where some two-handers have been known to fail.

While there are only two performers upon the stage, a number of voiceovers are utilised over the course of the play, most notably James Gooderson’s news reporter. This wonderfully written character was just realistic enough to be believable and just strange enough to be hilarious. To say any more would be to spoil the humour, but suffice to say the character would not retain his job very long in the real world of news reporting!

Littered with film references, the play leans into the heist skit atmosphere that it has created, with wonderful moments such as some slow motion running beneath red lighting and a crawl through the undergrowth for a stakeout. The stylised moments work perfectly within the landscape of Waddilove’s script, adding humour and variety to the fringe length piece. Every aspect of this play has undeniably been designed with comedy in mind and there are many opportunities to laugh throughout.

Overall, this is an excellently written and performed comedy, which manages to create very real characters and a situation that the audience can be invested in despite the hour long run time. Certainly the ending is a little predictable, but not so much as to be off-putting. In fact, it could be argued that this was the only way that the story could have been drawn to a close. With plenty of chaos to inspire laughter, the play is highly enjoyable while still handling grief with a realism and sensitivity that ensures that the emotional stakes of the piece are rooted in something tangible. 

Doughnut Drive runs at the Drayton Arms Theatre until 29 November