Wreckage at the Turbine Theatre

‘I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you.’
Sam and his fiancé Noel have been together for years. They have a
house, a cat and their whole lives ahead of them. But when a sudden
and permanent distance crashes into their relationship, it falls upon Sam to discover where their story goes from here.

Wreckage is a heartwarming and emotional story of the love between two people that is torn apart unexpectedly and how the survivor continues his life dealing with the guilt and overwhelming grief of losing a partner in such a way.

This show isn’t all doom and gloom like its subject matter may seem however, the playful comedy between the pair feels natural and relatable and feels almost intimate to watch as you witness the easy way these two characters show their familiarity through typical relationship teasing and mockery.  It’s a sure sign of excellent writing and the dialogue throughout feels incredibly raw and real.

Michael Walters is a powerhouse of an actor whose performance here is highly emotive, powerful and devastating in a way that is worth the price of a ticket alone.  There are great moments of dramatic tension created between the performers that the audience can really feel and it is well-paced throughout.

The set dressing is simplistic yet effectively links the action on stage to the audience and makes you feel like you are peering into the characters’ intimate lives.  The stage itself is mostly bare with changes in time and location indicated only by the videos projected onto the stage.  While this is effective for the most part there are some times, especially when showing the initial car crash, when this instead feels a bit ‘GCSE drama’ like and you can’t help but feel this would have been more striking as an audio-only experience, but we are being picky here.

Then there’s the ending which brings together the performers and AV elements in a way that really does get you right in the feels!

Wreckage is on at the Turbine Theatre until the 22nd of January and tickets are £20 through the theatre’s website.

Tickets were gifted in exchange for a review, all words and opinions are my own