Review: Bricks at 53two is “unpredictable, intense and incredible”

From having to converse with an eccentric oversharer at a house party to a painfully monotonous dinner with your mum, Bricks takes these ordinary life situations, and as the title suggests, builds them into complex, entertaining worlds of their own.

Over the course of a mere fifteen minutes, each play manages to pack so much into so little time.

Each story is concise yet impactful and promises a sense of unpredictability that becomes more and more palpable after each one ends.

From start to finish, there’s not a moment where the acting or dialogue falters.

The dialogue, in some of the plays, is almost like a character in itself, as it adds so much to the plays’ identity.

The off-the-cuff delivery and humorous northern slang instantly feel familiar and bring a much-needed light-hearted feel to balance out the darker moments.

The minimalistic set design also works brilliantly with the atmosphere of the plays.

The minimalism gives each play its own sense of mystique and curiosity, allowing the audience to fully immerse themselves in the performances.

And on the topic of acting, there are some brilliant moments sprinkled throughout.

A favourite of mine is Karen Henthorn’s performance as Gill in the fifth play “Loving the Bones of You”.

This is a performance that entangles humour, despair, and love, all in one intense display of desperation.

This is an incredible performance and one that I’m sure I’ll remember for a long time.

Another highlight for me was the last play, “Life On A Plum”. The play about two hopeless lovers is fantastic and surreal in its simplicity.

It was only at the end of the play that I realized that the two actors had more or less stood in the same spots for fifteen minutes, yet still told one of my favourite stories out of the six.

There’s a lot of fun, intensity and just overall brilliance in this play that I recommend everyone to go and see for themselves.

This is a cracking evening featuring six superbly performed stories jam-packed full of emotion – fifteen minutes at a time.

Bricks is at 53two until April 1st and tickets can be booked here