The Harmony Test - Hampstead Downstairs

Saw this earlier tonight and LOVED it, and so did 3 others, so it isn't just me, I promise lol.

This is about having kids, how to sustain a relationship if you're struggling to have one (its called "The Harmony Test," so you know things won't be smooth sailing), and how to sustain a relationship when the kids are leaving home, as well.

So far, so boring.

But no, this is pure entertainment. The writing by Richard Molloy is SO funny one moment, and immensely dramatically involving a moment later.

For a tiny theatre, like Hampstead Downstairs, to have recruited both Jemima Rooper and Pearl Chanda to the cast, two awesome actors who rarely put a foot wrong, is no coincidence, as all the characters really pop.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Pearl Chanda's Zoe really wants a baby and is policing her husband, Bally Gill's Kash, to get one. Meanwhile, her older friend, Jemima Rooper's Naomi's own daughter is leaving the nest, she's tired of her husband, Miles Twomey's Charlie, and now she's super-interested in new gym buddy, Sandro Rosta's Rocco instead.

There is an explosion of outrageous breaking-free comedy from Rooper, who reckons "toddlers are c--ts" and can't take her eyes off Rosta.

There is an explosion of Alpha Man Vs Beta Man comedy with Sandro Rosta's Alpha constantly reducing Bally Gill's Beta into a puddle of insecurity.

There is also some magnificent drunken "I've had it up to here" comedy from Miles Twomey, when his wife's moves prove too much.

There is some gorgeously realised "Are you actually my husband!" comedy from Pearl Chanda when her husband finds a novel way of enhancing their fertility prospects.

All the above get above average laughs.

And yet, since all the comedy is based on real feeling characters reacting authentically, rather than comic exaggeration, there is room too for some marvellous dramatic twists and turns that get into seriously poignant, affecting and difficult territory.

Chanda is the soul of the piece, utterly relatable and affecting. Rooper is the principal catalyst for comedy, with some belly laugh level outbursts. The whole cast, though, are wonderful.

And there is one visually arresting Alpha man Vs Beta man moment that had me unable to stop laughing.

Its to Alice Hamilton's credit that she is able to blend comedy and drama with such authenticity. (Her "The March on Russia" remains one of the most satisfying productions I ever saw at The Orange Tree Theatre).

Anyway, the material, about conception and rocky relationships, is undoubtedly much trodden, yawn-inducing territory, which TV sitcoms plough day in and day out, but here the humour and drama just feel so fresh.

This is the best show I've seen at the Downstairs venue in a while, so I'd give it 4 stars.