Come As You Are
★★★★☆ Powerful
theSpace Triplex (Venue 38): Mon 24 – Sat 29 Aug 2026
Review by Juliette Johnstone
Theatre Paradok’s Come As You Are at theSpace Triplex for the final week of the Fringe is the Pinteresque story of a birthday gathering gone wrong, a simple family dinner gradually besieged by simmering tensions and the exposing of a horrible secret.
Rufus Goodman’s script is bold and hard-hitting, showing a flair for dialogue and the clever use of humour to relieve the mounting stress of the action. Director Theodore Casimir-Lambert turns this compact play into a well-paced, deliberately claustrophobic piece, bringing the action steadily towards a climactic end, the last few seconds of which might leave you guessing.
A publicity image for Come as you are. Pic: Kate Bradley.
The Studio is a small, boxy space and this production uses its minimal set dressing economically, having the actors swiftly add or remove stools as needed. With up to eight actors on a stage this size, further props or furniture would be unworkable.
The moments when, due to the arrangement of seats, a speaking actor has their back to a chunk of the audience indicates that this production needs more space to do it justice – although the actors having to exit and enter the stage though openings in the curtain just centimetres from the audience does add a certain sense of intimacy.
Tech assistant Danby Lee’s lighting is efficient, using different pools of light to show changes of location or emphasis. One sequence in particular is a little rapid-fire, and a side light often shines directly at the audience, but this play is not about comfort. Similarly, the sound of a loud egg-timer from an unseen kitchen is deftly and repeatedly used to build tension.
What’s particularly impressive about this show is the depth and maturity of the performances from a young cast, playing characters varying from about 13 to middle aged. Each actor elevates their role from what could be a well-known trope (teen boy stuck to his phone, or an argumentative uncle) to fleshed-out individuals, and the direction allows them the space to do this despite the pace of the script.
memorable and sympathetic
Leo Odgers gives a memorable and sympathetic performance as the well-meaning but brittle husband Bill, out of his depth as host, and he has nearly all the gags. Although he is the comic relief of the play, it is still a complex role well handled.
The moral heart of the piece lies with Spencer Shaw as wife and mother Katherine, the birthday girl, taking us along on her journey from embattled calm to anguish with the skill you might find in an actor twice her age.
Rachel McLaren and Max Kinsky bring a realistic siblings-vibe to their interactions and play the roles of little sister Lottie and big brother George with unforced plausibility. Uncle Charlie is convincingly portrayed by Enyu Hu as the agitator of this family, a man masking his insecurity with alcohol and braggadocio.
Script writer Rufus Goodman also plays the role of black sheep Eddie, the uninvited guest at the party, managing to bring restraint and nuance to a very tough role which, on paper, could have been a rather basic, two-dimensional villain.
Katherine’s two friends Liz and Beth complete the family group, played respectively by Lily Dickie and Claudia Collins, both with grounded warmth and empathy.
This chess-board of a family dynamic allows us to explore human relationships, trauma and the idea of family loyalty: when something goes irreparably wrong, who gets to belong and who gets shut out?
Running time: 50 minutes (no interval).
theSpaceTriplex (Studio), The Prince Philip Building, EH8 9DP (Venue 38).
Monday 24 – Saturday 29 August 2026.
Daily: 6.05pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Instagram: @comeasyouare_fringe
Theatre Paradok website: theatreparadok.com
Facebook: @theatreparadok
Instagram: @theatreparadok
Linktree: @paradoksocials.
ENDS
