Review: BROKEN, Riverside Studios

Boy meets girl. Boy and girl get together. Boy and girl break up.

Set in Shepherd’s Bush, Broken tells the story of Boy (Matthew Lyon) and Girl (Lauren Maxwell) and their ill-fated break-up, all delivered in a stylised Shakespearean verse. We entered the performance curious and cautiously optimistic about the concept, but nothing could quite prepare us for what unfolded.

We meet Boy and Girl in the aftermath of their split, egos bruised and wounds fresh, as they each recall the giddy beginnings of their courtship and its inevitable collapse. While the play sets out to be bold in its language from Shakespearean flourishes to quoting Wordsworth, the result is a clunky mismatch. The plot, predictable and riddled with clichés, feels flat and dated rather than subversive or inventive.

From Girl’s complaints about missed toilet bowls and an underwhelming sex life to Boy’s gripes about her constant nagging, there’s little here that hasn’t already been done. The writing doesn’t elevate these tired tropes but leans into them without offering a fresh perspective. Monologues stretch on with little payoff, and the humour rarely lands.

Lauren Maxwell does her best to hold the piece together, soldiering through the material with admirable resilience. For fleeting moments, we catch glimmers of authenticity and emotional insight, but they vanish as quickly as they arrive. Lyon, weighed down by his writing and slapstick direction, turns what might have been a flawed but sympathetic character into a grating presence. His portrayal brushes over serious issues of alcoholism and abuse with such nonchalance it feels careless, as though we’re meant to shrug and laugh it off with a, “Well, that’s just how he is!”

Connor Divers’ lighting, along with the sound design, only adds to the sense of confusion, heightening the chaos rather than grounding it. Any moments of genuine wit or emotional clarity are drowned in a sea of overwrought verse and inconsistent tone.

For a piece that promises a modern twist on classical speech and timeless themes, Broken feels undercooked and unconvincing.

* One star

Reviewed by: Aleeza Humranwala

Broken plays at Riverside Studios until 15 June, with further info via the link below:

https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/broken-166501/