Maybe You Like It brings Down to Chance and Sorry (I Broke Your Arms and Legs) to the Pleasance Theatre as a humorous and heartwarming double bill.
In Anchorage, Alaska, it is Good Friday 1964 when a 9.2 magnitude earthquake hits, the largest in recorded US history. In Down to Chance, we follow Genie Chance, a small-time newsroom journalist, as she uses the radio network to help citizens navigate the crisis. In this tense yet uplifting play, we watch as a variety of multi-roled characters try to find the balance between informing the public and avoiding panic, with a healthy scattering of humour on top.
Ellie Jay Cooper plays Genie Chance, who has ambitions to be recognised as a “proper” journalist and thrusts herself into the role of the Alaskan Public Communications Officer as the aftermath of the disaster unfolds. She gives updates and announcements over the air whilst trying to reconcile being away from her own family and dealing with the expectations of government officials.
Meanwhile, we hear from a wide cast of other quirky characters, all played by either Cooper or Robbie Merriam, or sometimes both. This 70-minute thriller is well paced, switching between characters and scenes, feeling breakneck in the best way.
A mention of the sound team is also in order. There was a very impressive and reactive microphone effect whenever Genie was on-air, which was often. The sound design was integrated cleanly into the rest of the show, fading into the background of the chaos, but not to its own detriment.
London’s fringe scene seems to be feeling nostalgic recently, and this play is no different. It looks back to a time in which technology brought communities together.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
