It sounds like a barking-mad student sketch but the final product is marinated in wisdom and maturity. It’s Headed Straight Towards Us is a mellow riot of a play. The setting is a rocky glacier in Iceland during the filming of a corny sci-fi movie. Hugh (Sam West) is a cerebral thesp who specialises in playing butlers and high-status toffs. On set, he meets his best friend from drama school, Gary (Rufus Hound), whose career has declined to the point where he’ll accept any role going. Tragic Gary used to be a star who earned a fortune as a cockney villain in the 1980s but he succumbed to alcoholism and ill discipline, and he now has little in common with Hugh who lives in London with a couple of pet dogs and a solicitous male lover. He’s horrified when Gary barges into his luxurious campervan and demands companionship and gallons of wine.
Lloyd Evans
Godot with gags: It’s Headed Straight Towards Us, at Park200, reviewed
Plus: a slick new romcom from Hampstead Theatre
issue 07 October 2023
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