Review of ‘Yes, We’re Related’: “Little sister-hoot”

London’s The Other Palace’s Studio Theatre hosted the return of this droll comedy revolving around two distanced siblings reuniting for the first time after a haunting family loss.  Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if its nutty narrative deserves to be given skin or blisters.

There are no words to describe a family reunion – except, probably, disgusting. I’m kidding, I’m kidding – I have an inheritance to keep… But we all know that if there’s something almost every household in the world is good at, that is clashing – a lot. Take a couple of completely opposite siblings, and the show writes itself (well, actually, that’s pretty much what’s happened… and why I’m writing this… I’m not sure where I was heading to with this anymore…).

Last week (got you for a second, didn’t I?), London’s The Other Palace’s Studio hosted the return of Yes, We’re Related – an absurd comedy exploring the relationship between two estranged sisters, reunited for the very first time ever since their mother passed away. Sounds a bit too macabre for an allegedly chucklesome evening, but I guess everyone’s entitled to dig their own grave… Sorry.

To be fair, the idea of a not-so-cheerful backstory serving as the basis for an insanely droll farce is actually pretty good. Good enough to become a killing show – and since they managed to get mommy out of the picture, that shouldn’t be a difficult task… Well, in truth, they didn’t murder her. But I’m just leaving my suggestion there, on the table – for another plot (I wish the police stopped banging on my door at once…).

Written by Florece Lace Evans (also starring as one of the leads), the play establishes a good premise that not only promises caskets of amusement, but a few nice opportunities for introspection too. Sadly, though, almost all of them are buried in the ground – resulting in a not too satisfactory piece that, as much as it’s able to outline its themes and structure properly, feels rather incapable of supplying neither of them with any element of depth (even from an entertainment point of view), emotion and originality.

Lacking sufficient organicness in its dialogue, the play aims for a heightened reality approach in its pursuit of humour. Yet, only half of that intent comes to fruition – with the genuineness of the script never happening to materialise (let alone, solidify) due to its over predictable jokes, absence of flow and an general vibe of prioritising formula over instinct. It’s almost as if everything that’s used follows a checklist of all the tools comedy is supposed to include – and none of them are applied to serve the narrative’s needs, but only for their own sake.

Directed by Fran Davies-Cáceres, its 3-person cast exudes great stamina and commitment in their renditions. They honestly want to make their audience laugh – and their determination is genuinely infectious. Unfortunately, that’s just as good as it gets – as their performances are missing chemistry, naturalness, and a general sense of flair all throughout. They can grasp our attention, but strive to do anything else with it. And in the end,  we’re left with the impression of a rather disconnected company – who, regardless of their noticeable efforts, still struggle to make up for the many flaws both writing and portrayals bring along.

A tale of sore-ority and confrontation anyone can feel familiar with, Yes, We’re Related makes a sibyl-ing endeavour at bringing laughter, pathos and humanity through its farcical depiction of loss and grievance. Yet, most of its goals still remain on a starting point, hinting its possibilities, but presenting a muddled outcome that prevents any of them from making any accomplishment. Stronger wit and better pacing are two of the several tweaks this play requires not only to improve its rhythm, but to finally deliver a pulse of some kind. Blood may be thicker than water, but when it comes to comedy, it should always feel lighter.

All pictures credit to Lexi Clare.

By Guillermo Nazara