Review: MAKE ME FEEL, Bush Theatre

We meet Jamie and Ruby as they’re planning their wedding playlist. What follows is a collection of vignettes that lead up to the big day. Playwright Will Jackson drafts a flawed piece for the 18-25 Bush Young Company. Directed by Katie Greenall, it could be the personal exploration of a society that continuously forces us into our assigned roles, but it comes off as if the writing is simply ticking off a list of pertinent sociopolitical issues.

Featuring anxiety, anti-genocide activism, eldest daughter syndrome, the housing crisis, suicide, and more, it’s a lot. Combine that with a cast of 17 young actors who all need to do something, and most productions would be in danger of becoming messy. 

Scene by scene, we’re introduced to the couple’s friends and their individual woes. If there’s one thing that Jackson does very well here is demonstrating how we can share the same age, but be at a completely different stage in our lives. Between overly demanding managers and speeding awareness courses led by patronising tyrants, the numerous characters aren’t given the fundamental context for their narratives to sink in and say much at all. It’s a shame that the dynamic pace set by Greenall’s direction isn’t reflected in much of Jackson’s writing. Running at 105 minutes, Make Me Feel is too long – even when we consider the large number of parts in it. 

Though Jamie and Ruby are presented as the protagonists, this is very much an ensemble piece where everyone is important (which perhaps was the first mistake of this venture). People fail to show up for others until everything magically resolves at the end when the union is officiated by a lady who might or might not be part of a cult. Acting-wise, the company is a varied bunch. Performers like Yemi Yohannes, Zamir Mesiti, and Tabitha Ogilvie stand out, but there’s more work to be done in other cases. The episodic nature of the storytelling isn’t helped by the general lack of tension and intensity that comes from the text. Unnecessary plotlines are shoehorned in for the sake of making a point (i.e. the whole protest trail. It’s urgent and socially relevant, but does it really belong?). 

The result is that the tone is all over the place, trying to cover too much ground. The comedy is strong (the contrast between the girls texting in their group chat to organise Ruby’s hen party versus the boys setting up Jamie’s stag is peak fun), but it’s a drop in the ocean. There are also more worrying problems. By its denouement, the story is a little too kind to the male characters: the script is excessively understanding of them, while the women draw the short straw. Holding up a mirror to society without any attempt at analysis, the men are allowed to learn and grow, but the women are expected to deal with the shortcomings of their counterparts. It’s just another loose thread in a play that tries to be too many things at once.

With faults to be found in most departments, perhaps the problem generated when the project was still in its embryonic stage. It feels like the requirement for the play to be an active participant in many different conversations was put above the need for the material to be focused. It’s by no means a death sentence, just a glitch in the excellent work the Bush constantly does. Onwards and upwards!

Make Me Feel runs at the Bush Theatre until 23 August.