Students Fred (Daniel Lockett) and Fliss (Lily Cooper) are nothing like each other. For a start they have dissimilar approaches to tackling work assignments. However, for all of their differences, they are the best of friends – able to talk about almost anything what’s on their mind. Almost… Written and directed by Mimi Monteith, Two Of A Kind is about what lies beneath the surface in a relationship. In a parallel universe, Fliss and Fred might have been a couple. However here, their overfamiliarity with each other’s quirks and foibles may have put the kibosh on taking their own relationship to the next level.
On this particular evening, Fred has writers’ block – unable to write something creative through the acceptance or rejection of tropes. Fliss is usually good at helping with this, but on this occasion she is distracted – as if her mind is elsewhere on something more pressing…
The mutual acquaintances and shared history between Fliss and Fred are vividly brought to life, as anecdotes of bad dates and questionable behaviour threaten to eclipse any work done. Of course, while much of the conversation is about others, the ‘elephant in the room’ is always present and one of the biggest questions of life – why is it that we hear of intelligent women who stay with men who are a ‘wrong fit’ for them?
Much like the ‘spot the ball’ photos in competitions, what Two Of A Kind is really about is hidden in plain sight – with behaviour and topics of conversation on the periphery of ‘the truth’. It is this enigma that drives the play and indirectly points to the fact that despite being very close, Fliss and Fred don’t tell each other everything, nor able to read between the lines of what’s communicated without words…
© Michael Davis 2019
Two Of A Kind runs at Bread & Roses Theatre until 12th January.
Breaking The Fourth Wall 