Review of ‘Make Me Feel’: “Well-intentioned play struggles to follow its mantra”

The Bush 18-25 Young Company returns to the stage with Will Jackson’s coming-of-age play, exploring the bonds and relationships among two groups of pals in the days leading up to their best friends’ wedding. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show to let us know if these theatrical nuptials will lead audiences to walk down the aisles.

We all love a wedding — especially when it doesn’t go according to plan (we all have our coping mechanisms). And no matter how many times the theatre has portrayed the trials and tribulations of young love and commitment (two concepts that rarely go together anymore), there’s always a chance we can give to a new play exploring the ups and downs of modern relationships. However, as much as I can accept the proposal, I couldn’t help but find myself separated from what, ultimately, came across as a disengaging narrative.

For two performances only, London’s Bush Theatre welcomes back its Young Company to stage Make Me Feel, a piece by Will Jackson dealing with a soon-to-be married couple and their entourages, as they go through all the arrangements leading to The Big Day. Structured as coral recount, where seemingly independent plotlines begin to converge as the story advances, the text celebrates friendship, loyalty, and togetherness by underlining its significance in commonplace situations, while also trying to make a social comment through themes including the current mental health crisis, sense of loneliness, and public services’ limited resources to tackle the issue.

It’s a premise as inviting as it’s challenging. Regardless of how relevant its topics may be to a contemporary audience, the risk of overstepping into a cliché turns the line into a frayed tightrope. Jackson’s writing might not incur that problem (at least, not so blatantly), but it’s not exempt from noticeable flaws, most of which stem from a lack of identity, depth, and further development in the script’s crafting.

Despite a few enjoyable moments with some shining specks of wit, the overall feel is, however, quite dull and uninnovative. Although the dialogue displays a certain degree of flow, many lines come off as flat and melodramatic, trying to accentuate the poignancy of the material, but instead preventing the pathos from ever emerging by sounding too forced and artificial. At the same time, its narrative evolution is unpolished — on too many occasions, leaving us with the impression of going nowhere, and when it does, offering next to no room for the characters’ arcs to form and make sufficient progress.

The staging exudes visual strength, which owes mainly to Joshie Harriette’s intricate lighting — highly atmospheric and combined with soft ethereal strokes to underscore the personages’ emotional state. The set doesn’t boast the same skillfulness, most sadly, consisting primarily of a house-shaped frame made of scaffolding bars, and which, ninety-five per cent of the time, feels like a nuisance rather than a handy tool. Had the design featured only lighting cues and blocking, nobody would have missed it.

Although the cast oozes chemistry and every member honours their role with palpable dedication, many renditions are short of layering, naturalness, and most importantly, honesty — still unable to build enough personal connection with their characters and become a vehicle for their truth.

There are a few refreshing exceptions, nonetheless, with the highest praise going to Rohan Rakhit, whose powerful interpretation as Dhillon comes together with immaculate dexterity. In addition, Josie Dixey Watson exhibits potential in her performance as Mags — not endowed with the most stirring profundity, but demonstrating compelling aptitude and comprehensive understanding of the part.

Coming up with a promising draft for a touching story spiced up with thought-provoking elements, but incapable of letting any of those tangy components sparkle, Make Me Feel leads to an unfulfilling result, where neither its sentimental nor philosophical sides take shape solidly enough to leave an imprint on its audience. With the right revisions, it could mature into a moving coming-of-age narrative that resonates across generations. So far, however, its title is an expression of the viewers’ ungranted wish.

All pictures credit to Harry Elletson.

Make Me Feel plays at London’s Bush Theatre until 23 August. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara