"These are, at heart, very real characters. But perhaps too real…"Publicity design by Katie Wrench with permission for Varsity

Three friends sit down to play a board game and, as they play and talk, their lives unfold before them. Macroevolution: Variant B portrays the lives of friends Frankie (Vivian Wang), Luke (Thomas Sweeney) and Jade (Harriet Regan), from their first meeting in freshers’ week, through the deadlines of university, and into the knotty, uncertain world of work. The play, an original piece by Bill Dallas Lea, is told episodically as the three friends come together to play Macroevolution (variant B), the longest board game ever made. This is a clever device, offering a way to jump through time without feeling contrived. It is also a nice recurring joke, with a rulebook thicker than a dictionary, and gameplay that becomes more convoluted with every scene.

“All three actors establish a charming realism”

From the first scene, all three actors establish a charming realism, recreating the mumbling, stumbling interactions of “what subject do you do” talks and the innocent excitement of freshers’ week. The trio give nicely embodied performances, using gestures and movement to fill out the characters and the space. Considering the entire play consisted of three people sat on a rug, the stage never felt empty, which is testament to their energetic performances. Vivian Wang also used this energy to good comedic effect at times.

However, the performances lacked emotional variety, making scenes feel stilted. Emotive story lines seemingly came from nowhere, with a character asking, “you alright there?” to someone whose face hadn’t changed. Injecting this visual emotion into the performance would really elevate the production, adding depth to their already well-considered portrayal of real people.

“The play’s desire for naturalism slips into the mundane at times”

The narrative is highly relatable (perhaps too relatable for this tired MPhil student) and successfully captures the innocent awkwardness of freshers’ week, as well as the mingled freedom and apprehension of graduating. It takes in the ups and downs of the trio’s lives, their relationships, concerns about exams, jobs, or fears of losing friends. It is also wonderful to see a play where all three characters are queer, and yet they are by no means defined by their queerness. These are, at heart, very real characters. But perhaps too real… The play’s desire for naturalism slips into the mundane at times—yes, it is important to show that flat-sharing can raise tensions, but do we really need to hear them debating whether to take turns buying milk?


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This is the issue with Macroevolution: the play skirts around the important issues, instead of meeting them head-on. Interesting threads are suggested in one scene, but we don’t see the characters working through them. Instead, the next scene skips to a resolution, avoiding the truly relevant nitty-gritty of the middle. The old maxim “show don’t tell” rings true here—we don’t want to be told Jade has moved in with the hinted-at girlfriend; we want to see her discuss their relationship, watch it grow from tentative beginnings to blossoming love, and feel how this changes things.

Macroevolution: Variant B feels more like the work-in-progress for a play of great promise. Dallas Lea’s story has potential: it speaks to our time and to a student audience, shining a light on the everyday difficulties we all face. However, these threads need to be teased out and polished for this play to truly take flight. That being said, for me, this play is everything student theatre should be: the chance to put on an original play, exploring truly relatable situations and concerns, and to discover what works and what doesn’t. Sure, it may not have quite worked this time, but I have no doubt that the writer, performers, and production team alike will grow to bright and exciting projects in the future.

Macroevolution: Variant B is showing at the Corpus Playrooms, Wednesday 1st to Saturday 4th February, 9.30pm