Review: THERE'S A DEAD BODY IN MY LIVING ROOM, Etcetera Theatre

When Steph comes back home after a long day at the office, a dead body is waiting in her living room. While she should be shocked at the sight of a bloodied man slumped over a chair, he's a mere inconvenience that prevents her from enjoying her evening. As she tries to find out what happened to the stranger, she uncovers a toxic relationship and an unreliable point of view.

Naima Sjoholm writes an intriguing pastiche that toys with our perception of the plot. There's a Dead Body in my Living Room is an improbably tongue-in-cheek play that mixes feminist drama, absurdism, slapstick, and physical theatre with surprising ease.

Timelines intersect smoothly in Steph's depiction of her patronising boyfriend while meta-theatrical interruptions turn up the comedic vein of the production. While it's far from a perfect project as the pace falters here and there, it questions how we approach victims and perpetrators while giving an informal lecture on gaslighting.

Sjoholm plays an exceedingly loyal girlfriend who's ready to dissolve a body in her bathtub to protect the man she introduces as "so pathetic nobody would notice him" (Alberts Vecmanis). From their meet-cute in a club onward, she paints a picture littered with daily micro-aggressions and condescending interactions.

Director Belle Bao maintains the audience on her side throughout, even after a brilliant twist destabilises the whole story as we know it. Ultimately, it comes down to an investigation of our own social preconceptions and blind beliefs. The show doesn't have any answers, but it's certain to kick-start a lot of conversations at the bar afterwards.

There's a Dead Body in my Living Room runs at the Etcetera Theatre until 28 August as part of Camden Fringe.

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