What poses the greatest threat to global welfare? Glenn Waldron, in a play that arrives from the Theatre Royal Plymouth, follows the lead taken by England’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, in suggesting that antibiotic resistance should rank alongside international terrorism and climate change. But, in order to put the point across, Waldron jumps uneasily from sparky satire to dystopian drama.
Waldron starts amusingly with a trio of pharmaceutical sales reps practising their pitch, under the guidance of their leader, to promote a drug that will cure liver spots. We see the gauche Gemma, the cynical Robby and the shy Helen all offering variations on the boss’s patter while engaging in team-building ball-games and privately speculating on the nature of happiness. But, having raised doubts about the whole drug-pushing trade, Waldron spins forward to suggest an apocalyptic future in which people are desperate to obtain a precious vaccine to nullify a viral epidemic. While the play has an important point to make, it is far more effective when it seduces us with laughter than when it socks us between the eyes.
Simon Stokes’s production does its best to unify the two halves by highlighting the debate about whether life is best seen as a prolonged journey or a series of intense moments. Becci Gemmell, Tala Gouveia, Andy Rush and Simon Darwen perform with great aplomb, and Bill Paterson voices a chillingly reassuring climactic spiel. I just wish that Waldron could match his big themes with greater consistency of tone.
- At the Southwark Playhouse, London, until 10 February. Box office: 020-7407 0234.
- This article was amended on 15 January 2018. The actor Tala Gouveia was misidentified as Jessica Clark in the text.
