Review Roundup: BRACE BRACE at the Royal Court Theatre

Royal Court Theatre is presenting Oli Forsyth’s BRACE BRACE directed by Daniel Raggett. The cast includes Phil Dunster, Craige Els, and Anjana Vasan.

BRACE BRACE will run in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs through Saturday 2 November 2024.

“A plane fell out of the sky, and we happened to be on it.” A man hijacks a plane. The plane begins to fall. Fight or flight. Back on the ground, survivors Ray and Sylvia struggle to reconcile their responses to this life-changing event. As cracks appear in their relationship, one closes themselves off, the other can’t focus on anything else. BRACE BRACE is a gripping story of the people we become in the aftermath of catastrophe. See what the critics are saying...

Arifa Akbar, The Guardian: Anna Reid’s set is inspired, as is the hair-raising sound design by Paul Arditti, complete with the eerie silence of engines switching off as the hijacker (Craige Els) storms the cockpit and attempts to throttle the captain. Then there is the keening of the nosedive, together with Simeon Miller’s luminous gangway lighting. All of it feels incredibly real and dangerous. Daniel Raggett’s direction is snappy too, carrying both playfulness and threat over the course of the drama. But the couple are unconvincing, and so are the forced moral dilemmas in Forsyth’s script, although the performances are compelling, particularly Vasan’s. 

Matt Wolf, London Theatre: It’s difficult to imagine the writing in better hands, here abetted by a creative team that includes the Tony-winning sound designer Paul Arditti (Billy Elliot) returning to the theatrical fold. Craige Els takes a break from musicals (Matilda, amongst others) to tackle a troublesome array of men – the hijacker just one of several – whilst Dunster and Vasan are in formidably take-no-prisoners form as a twosome whose once-airborne passions fall tragically, inevitably, to earth.

Claire Allfree, The Telegraph: Anjana Vasan and Phil Dunster invest Sylvia and Ray with the right mix of perky charisma and curdling anguish, and have evident chemistry; Forsyth is nimble with dialogue. But the plot? It’s a plane crash.

Tom Wicker, Time Out: Where Daniel Raggett’s production scores points is its staging. Anna Reid’s starkly abstract and effective set sees us sat on either side of a plane aisle-like slope that bisects the narrow strip of stage at a slant. Dunster, Vasan and Craig Els (playing multiple roles) jump over or cling desperately to this as the play flashes back to the hijacking. Together with Simeon Miller’s high-impact lighting and the roar of Paul Arditti’s nerve-jangling sound design, it’s a powerfully visceral experience in no need of words. 

Beth Bowden, All That Dazzles: I love a Royal Court Upstairs show - and this is a real cracker. Although I spent about half of it a bit scared of ever flying again, BRACE BRACE is visceral, powerful and packs an absolute punch.