★★★★

“full of sharp storytelling, strong physical comedy and quickfire characterisation”

Upon entering Theatre503, you’re first confronted by the smell of soil. On stage: torn sections of soiled mattress, slabs of broken tile, decaying brickwork and dead reeds leaning like ghosts in the dingy corners. A solitary wooden throne sits amid the wreckage. It’s oppressive, grotty and unexpectedly intricate for such a small black-box space — a patchwork ruin that establishes Loop as a story rooted in one woman’s mental decay, liminality and obsession.

Written and performed by Tanya-Loretta Dee, Loop follows Bex, a balloon-animal-twisting party-shop employee whose world is quietly collapsing around her. She falls for a customer, James, a sweater-vested man in tortoiseshell glasses with secrets of his own. Though Bex initially insists he isn’t her type, their connection quickly slips into a tale of longing, fantasy and fixation.

The beats of the story are familiar — the intoxicating rush, the near-inevitable disappointment and the growing volatility of a relationship built in hotel rooms, toilets and other spaces not quite fit for life — but Dee’s telling never feels stale. Bex’s tale is consistently funny, full of sharp storytelling, strong physical comedy and quickfire characterisation. And as the second half darkens, you’ll catch your breath and wonder just how far down the rabbit hole the protagonist you’ve been rooting for might go.

Dee’s performance is the anchor of the play’s success, holding you from the outset with a raw earnestness as she charts Bex’s friction, longing, delusion and descent without ever losing our sympathy. Adorned in a near-bridal white dress that gradually soils with the dirt and muck around her, she shifts effortlessly between predator and prey; her eyes widen with naivety before reeling you back with a knowing wink. You root for her even in her worst moments.

If there is a criticism, it’s that the familiarity of the overall “men being bastards” storyline occasionally leaves you wishing the script had waded deeper into the murk it hints at. Generational patterns of trauma, Bex’s childhood and the roots of her compulsions are all touched upon but left somewhat submerged — though perhaps, as in life, those cycles resist neat explanation, and there is no single clear-cut reason she becomes the way she is.

Sophie Ellerby’s direction is superb, making clever use of the dismantled mattresses, balloons and even the dirt itself to bring the story to life. Bex constantly rearranges the set, shifting objects to form beds, barriers and thresholds, each movement reflecting the instability of her inner world. Cheng Keng’s lighting design tightens around her like a noose, building tension through stark isolations and sharp use of colour, while projected text messages heighten her distress.

Still, the overall effect is striking. For a venue of this size, the production achieves an impressive sense of scale and texture. The set (Mydd Pharo), with its mix of stone, tile and exposed brick, feels almost like a psychological excavation site.

While the narrative runs a little predictably — a woman falling for, and ultimately enduring, the carelessness of a man — the production distinguishes itself through the precision of its execution and the clarity of its voice. It ends with something close to a “they all lived happily ever after” flourish, though a final barb reminds us how easily these patterns can repeat. Even the audience groaned at the dawning realisation that Bex may not be completely out of the woods yet.

As Tanya-Loretta Dee’s debut full-length play, Loop confirms that her future as both writer and performer is exceptionally promising. It may not reinvent its genre, but it delivers a funny, tense and compelling descent into obsession — told with confidence, imagination and a design team working at the top of their game.

GOING FOR GOLD at Park Theatre

★★★★

“A gripping and heartfelt true story”

Based on a true story, Going for Gold is a moving retrospective about a British boxing champion’s greatest triumphs and losses, told from the ringside perspective of the woman who loved him.

Yes, there is boxing onstage and you will hear the Rocky theme.

Written by Lisa Lintott, Going for Gold tells the story of two-time National ABA and Commonwealth Games 1974 middleweight champion, Frankie Lucas (Jazz Lintott). Frankie came to London from Saint Vincent as part of the Windrush generation, and we first meet him as a nine-year-old when he joins a boxing club in Croydon. As he trots off, a woman enters and addresses the audience: “I’m not his mother”. This is Gene (Llewella Gideon), who fell in love with Frankie when they were both teenagers and soon after gave birth to their son, Michael (Daniel Francis-Swaby). The immediate break of the fourth wall and the age difference between the actors portraying Gene (50s) and Frankie (30s) tells us that this play is Gene’s memory of her long-term boxer boyfriend. She is our narrator, with Gideon showcasing a natural gravitas that compels the spectator. The play showcases highlights and challenges from Frankie’s life. He valiantly fights against systemic racism to build his sporting legacy in 70s England, but at the expense of his family.

The stage design (Erin Guan) is symbolic of Frankie’s battles outside the boxing ring. We see a living room to the left, a gym office to the right and a boxing ring in the middle. In the left corner is Gene, urging Frankie to come home to see Michael. In the right corner is Frankie’s trainer George (Nigel Boyle), who also urges him to go home to his “missus and son”. In the middle is Frankie whose hunger for success turns into self-sabotaging paranoia. As boxer and trainer, Lintott and Boyle make a fabulous pair. Boyle is exceptional, finding a cool balance between being a stern coach and supportive brother figure. Lintott sometimes struggles with the Saint Vincent accent, but he commands attention with a suave presence and spectacular comedic timing.

The stellar collaboration of the creative team shines during the boxing matches. The play covers Frankie’s greatest fights from 1971 to 1980, executed with excellent movement direction by David Gilbert and fight choreography from Rupert Charmak. What makes the fights impressive, is the clever use of cinematic devices onstage. Here, a knockout is shown in slow-motion, supported by foley boxing sounds (Lo Wu) and strobe lighting (Cheng Keng). A cut-away shot is recreated by jumping between the stage and the projector. The projector shows us archival footage of the real Frankie Lucas fighting in the ring. Lights come on, and we see Frankie falling onto his corner stool onstage. This allows the audience to become immersed in both the public spectacle of boxing and the private moments between boxer and trainer.

The play’s only real issue comes at the end. Frankie and Michael have a conversation that rushes to get key plot points across to the audience before the ending. The unnatural pace (which is at odds with Philip J Morris and Xanthus’ otherwise spot on direction) prevents the moment from having the emotional impact the play seeks in the final scene. Despite this, the story has a satisfying ending. The show’s star is Llewella Gideon who seamlessly navigates between being present onstage and addressing the audience, thus delivering a stunning performance.

A gripping and heartfelt true story about a boxer who was forgotten by history but championed by his family, Going for Gold makes for an insightful and exciting evening at the theatre.

LOOP

Theatre503

★★★★

“full of sharp storytelling, strong physical comedy and quickfire characterisation”

LOOP

Theatre503

Reviewed on 14th November 2025

by Daniel Outis

Photography by Zoë Birkbeck

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Loop

Loop

Loop

GOING FOR GOLD at Park Theatre

★★★★

“A gripping and heartfelt true story”

GOING FOR GOLD at Park Theatre

Reviewed on 12th November 2024

by Lara van Huyssteen

Photography by James Potter

Previously reviewed at this venue:

GOING FOR GOLD

GOING FOR GOLD

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