One Last Surviving - Lyric Theatre
As you step into the theatre, the opening scene has already been set. The angel stands a few feet above you, Fluck and Slod lie huddled up in an old sleeping bag in the centre of the stage. And there is music that is discordant but also strangely beautiful.
One Last Surviving... tells the tale of Fluck and Slod, two street kids who break into the Lady’s house for a night of safety, warmth and chocolate...but all goes awry. Running parallel and adding an extra dimension to this story is that of the last angel in heaven who undergoes an existential crisis and crash-lands on Charing Cross Road. You are then left wondering if he manages to save Fluck and Slod in time, until the play ends with an ironic twist.
Fluck and Slod are played so convincingly that you cannot help but sympathise with them as they struggle to survive in a city where the people are indifferent and unsympathetic. The latter are represented by a string of oddball characters, all ably played by one member of the cast. Throughout the play live music composed especially for this production, and provided by a trio of musicians, heightens the emotions further. The set design is simple with the location just hinted at: an underground sign stands at the front of the stage.
Writer Alex Mermikides has woven together a story that offers a glimpse into a cold and bleak world that few have ever had experience of, together with moments of amusement and absurdity that counterbalance the pathos. However, I could not help but think that the scope of the play had been somewhat limited by the baby-talk dialogue of Fluck and Slod: so much more could have been expressed.
All in all, this is shocking but entertaining theatre where originality brings a fresh approach to what is a disturbing theme.
May Lee
