The Last Time I Saw Caileigh, Cockpit Theatre Review
Photo by Cameron Heath Sasso-BriggsWritten by Charlotte for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
June is Pride Month, an apt and necessary time for LGBTQ+ stories to take centre stage. Stories that focus on non-binary experiences are perhaps even more necessary in a theatrical landscape that rarely gives them the space they deserve. It is all the more unfortunate, then, that a show with such salient themes at its core ultimately falls flat.
The Last Time I Saw Caileigh takes a low-stakes interrogative framework, with the titular character’s self-righteous friend Maxime acting as investigator into the ‘something’ that has happened to Caileigh, grilling their aunt and boyfriend over their lack of acceptance for Caileigh’s emerging non-binary identity. The scenes that follow are a collection of largely unfocused, contrived interactions between Caileigh and the people around them, relying on tired devices like characters reading off social media or getting stuck on a delayed train to raise one popular debate after another. And while we know that something has happened to Caileigh, there is never enough clarity for the stakes to feel heightened. Even when the play finally reaches its murky reveal, the stakes remain obscured by a bombastic final monologue that is completely disconnected from the rest of the play’s reality.
The play is presented as a devised piece, conceived with Mattias Moret, who also plays Maxime, and Helen Percival and written by Victoria Sasso and Harun Ćehović, who also play Caileigh and Faruk respectively. It’s obvious the story is quite close to the company of writer/deviser/actors, and while the old adage of ‘write what you know’ carries plenty of truth, it can also have its pitfalls. The Last Time I Saw Caileigh feels more like a therapeutic exercise than a piece of theatre, seemingly stuck in the sea of unprocessed thoughts its writer-insert character is still wading through. Put simply, it feels as if it wasn’t ready to be written.
To be clear, it is not that the topics taken on by The Last Time I saw Caileigh are not important nor that they are not worth unpacking through drama; but their lack of a compelling narrative or functional dramatic structure leave them floundering as little more than soundbites most of the audience have no doubt heard before. Without critical intervention, the issues lack resonance. The most one can hope to glean from the show is that these issues exist. And sure, that’s worthwhile in its own right, but the kind of audience the show will attract are almost certainly aware of that already.
To give Sasso and Ćehović their due, the show is still soliciting feedback and going back into rehearsals prior to its next run. Though it should also be noted it has already had a New York run prior to this London debut. As it is now, however, I fear The Last Time I Saw Caileigh needs a strong dramaturgical overhaul if it hopes to successfully engage audiences.
★ ★
