Review: EMILE AND EMILY, VAULT Festival

Three pairs of Emile and Emily discuss privilege, philosophise about their circumstances, and grieve a loved one's death in Mojola Akinyemi, Nurit Chinn and Philippa Lawford's play aptly titled Emile and Emily. The first scene sees two flatmates drinking at 3am. As they wind each other up and chit-chat about people they know or envy, Emile brings up Emily's upbringing. He had to teach her basic skills while they were at university, like operating a microwave, while she was introducing him to her posh mates whose smiles faded when they heard him speak.

He shares the humiliation he still feels; she insists he's trying to paint them as villains while he makes himself the victim. While Isaiah St Jean's Emile is politely passionate about racist bias and classism, Francesca Eldred's sentences tend to be delivered in a uniform tone that ends in upspeak no matter what her feelings are. Their dialogue sinks into cliché phrasal twists when discussing their social divide, so the result is, unfortunately, rather forced and didactic.

When this Emily abruptly leaves when Emile prods her elitism, two flight attendants take over. David Matthews and Molly Monkton analyse the mundanity of life, briefly plunging into ethics and inappropriate cul-de-sacs. Emily hates flying, Emile has been in the job for 30 years. Their generational gap is loud and their personalities are as divergent as it gets, but their exchanges are ultimately severely uninteresting.

The final part plays out between Adam Mirsky and his dead boyfriend's sister Emily, played by Sarah Hazemi. He's travelling the States and stopped in California to see her. It's probably the most intriguing in the triptych and features the most compelling subtextual work. Peeling the layers, the characters reveal secret jealousies and undiscovered resentments.

All in all, the concept is good but still unfocused at this stage. The vignettes might need stronger intention and substance, as having roles with the same name is hardly enough to tie them together.

Emile and Emily runs at VAULT Festival until 26 February.

VAULT Festival has been left without a venue for next year. You can contribute to the #SaveVAULT campaign here.

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