Louis Cavalier’s quick two-hander Don’t Rock The Boat looks like a piece in progress on the Golden Goose Theatre
“How long have you got left”
Daniel and Alice are each in rehab. But although they’re in adjoining rooms, they by no means see one another as they’re at totally different phases of their journey, being handled in numerous wards, sharing in numerous teams. But each evening as soon as they’re achieved, they return to their quasi-shared area and thru this enforced proximity, a friendship of kinds begins to develop.
At barely 40 minutes lengthy, Don’t Rock The Boat is Oxford School of Drama graduate Louis Cavalier’s second play nevertheless it feels extra like a sketch, a piece in progress directed right here by Noah McCreadie. There’s a wealth of attention-grabbing points touched on, notably round differing attitudes in direction of and methods for restoration, however inevitably there isn’t the room to delve deep into them.
Cavalier’s Daniel is newly arrived and is resisting the method, kinda feeling like he’s in “a primary school for alcoholics”. Ava Dodsworth’s Alice is way additional alongside the programme and has absolutely drunk the Kool-Aid. And via the wall that they share for 3 weeks or so, quick bursts of interactions set out their positions for the jokes, debates and arguments that develop in significance.
It’s a format that doesn’t fairly work right here, exacerbated by the working time however problematic by itself too. Too little room is afforded to discover character (we get Daniel’s backstory however not a lot is revealed about why Alice is at this rehabilitation centre) or expertise (there’s little exploration or analysis of what they’re doing) in a means that will make us really feel any actual empathy.