Bitter, cynical, thoroughly discontented; Malcolm Brown doesn’t know how to get his life back on track. Once a well-respected journalist, he now writes for a teenage gossip magazine and is sleeping on his agent’s (Simon Donohue) couch. How did things go so wrong? With both his professional and private lives in pieces, is prostituting his personality for a celebrity focussed reality TV show his only way back? Is one’s public profile really the most important thing in life? Peter Imms’ debut play Press explores the unpredictable career of a journalist in a world where social media is taking over and every Tom, Dick and Harry has a blog. This is a play that predicts a time when original ideas and authenticity often feel like a thing of the past.

 

The play begins as it ends, with Malcolm sat on a sofa, barefoot, pensively scrolling through his iPad. It starts in a calm moment and ends there too, without any need for an overdramatic plot twist. Staying in the same location throughout, the audience follows a day in Malcolm’s life, which is mostly spent complaining and arguing with his agent Chris and ex-wife Sarah (Liz Mance). At times some of the arguments and conversations between Malcolm and Chris feel too similar and the plot becomes a little static consequently, but this may have been because the dialogue is a little clumsy. As the show progresses however, and the characters of Izzy (Janine Hipkins) and Sarah are introduced, the audience learns more context about Malcolm’s situation and why he is the way he is.

 

The calm conversations between Hipkins and Mance, shed light on the their personalities in a much better way than during the shouting matches they frequently partake in, and this is when Imms’ writing really shines. This is particularly noticeable during the monologue in which Chris reflects over his young aspirational self who wanted to be an actor. Donohue performs it excellently, really striking into the audience’s own thoughts, speaking the words of a shared struggle for the want to follow and the need to compromise on dreams. The conversation between Malcolm and his daughter Izzy is the most captivating of the piece, showing that often the stresses of life make us forget our own happiness. The actors are very comfortable in the scene together and it is a delight to watch. It is from this honest conversation with his daughter that Malcolm decides to turn his life around and take responsibility for his own happiness.

 

Overall, this is an interesting piece of new writing that taps into the audience’s conscience that could be excellent if the writing was tightened in parts.

 

Press is playing The Bread and Roses Theatre until 30th January. For more information and tickets, see www.breadandrosestheatre.co.uk/press-by-peter-imms