The concept behind Blackout is intriguing: a power cut in a block of flats forces two neighbours together in darkness, only for things to take a turn when the sun doesn’t rise the following morning. Does it deliver? Sort of.
It’s always going to be a tall order writing, directing and acting the lead in the first performance of your own play but Tim Cook pulls it off.
He also performs original musical interludes on guitar, which could be shorter but do help depict time passing.
Cook is joined by Amani Zardoe, playing Mark and Tracy respectively: Mark pines after his ex-girlfriend; Tracy is new to the block.
The synergy between these two is impressive and neither puts a foot wrong with the script.
Where the play does fall down is in the delivery, which is over-egged in places. A lack of logic also leads to the unrealistically drawn-out actions of opening a door or looking through a window. That said, it is difficult to know how one would react to the sun unexpectedly disappearing – a truly terrifying prospect.
A vicious twist leaves the audience hanging and the text open to interpretation, proving that the storyline is the strongest part of this two-hander.
Peer through the murkiness and you may be rewarded.
Blackout runs tonight (May 30) at 9.30pm, tomorrow (May 31) at 6.45pm and Sunday (June 1) at 6.45pm, tickets £8/£7
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