JURASSIC

Soho Theatre

★★★

“its infectious silliness makes for lots of big laughs”

A misinterpretation of the film ‘Jurassic Park’ sets off a Kafkaesque nightmare of university bureaucracy and conspiracy in Tim Foley’s ‘Jurassic’ at the Soho Theatre. The two-hander pits the stubborn, righteously deluded Dean of the University, ‘Dean’, against the increasingly exasperated academic Jay, driven to derangement by a misunderstanding that is costing him his sanity, as well as his job. There are plenty of fun and silly jokes in this very taut one-act play, but the balance between the far-fetched absurdist concept and genuine critique of elitism and bureaucracy is a tricky one. It can be a challenge to suspend disbelief and feel invested in Jay’s Sisyphean battle to be reinstated in the face of a post-truth campus culture.

Matt Holt’s Dean and Alastair Michael’s Jay are perfect foils for each-other, as their initial conflict – Dean’s belief that the film Jurassic Park is indeed a documentary revealing the existence of dinosaurs- costs Jay his job in the palaeontology department. The university provides an ideal setting for a tale of misinformation and power politics, with funding cuts, a perpetually absent principal, staff feuds and spilled secrets all occurring in the background. The absurd central misunderstanding demands the audience’s commitment to the bit, which we can enthusiastically give – but Dean’s initial delusion is resolved quite quickly, and this leaves space to wonder about the script’s practical corner-cutting. Questions like “Why has there been no mention of an employment tribunal?” and “Can you actually campaign to be chancellor of the university you’ve just been fired from?” plague the mind. But maybe that’s just the bureaucrat in me.

Meanwhile, particular praise must be given to movement director Yandass Ndlovu’s transition scenes, which see Dean and Jay devolve and spar with each other as prehistoric creatures. These scenes free up the play to jump forward in time effortlessly, as well as harkening back to the good old days when creatures could squawk, scratch and lunge at each other without all the red tape. Anna Short and Patch Middleton’s sound design bring a purposefully minimal, quotidian office setting to life in tense and climatic moments, and there is some great work with onstage lighting when the rivals’ feud becomes more akin to a police interrogation.

Piers Black’s slick direction means that the tug of war between Dean and Jay never grows slack. But to create forward propulsion while the characters remain locked in this stubborn power dynamic, the play introduces higher and higher stakes that occasionally deviate in tone from the play’s absurd concept. There’s a murder, which remains darkly comic but feels a little crowbarred in. Subsequently, a reveal about Jay’s own misdeeds, which have been subtly alluded to with his frequenting of student bars, do make it quite difficult to maintain the sympathy for his character that has swept the audience along on his futile journey. As the play reaches its climax, any catharsis we might feel on his behalf is marred slightly, and although the ending comes satisfying full-circle, it does stretch the possibilities of play’s universe a bit too far to feel entirely earned.

Foley’s play clearly relishes in its absurd concept, and its infectious silliness makes for lots of big laughs. Still, I think there is more satirical material to mine from this recognisable tale of faculty politics, without the introduction of some tonal inconsistencies and the completely off-the-rails plot developments, however gratifying they may be.

JURASSIC

Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 20th November 2025

by Emily Lipscombe

Photography by Chris Payne

Recently reviewed at Soho Theatre venues:

LITTLE BROTHER | ★★★★ | October 2025

BOG WITCH | ★★★½ | October 2025

MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN | ★★★★ | October 2025

ENGLISH KINGS KILLING FOREIGNERS | ★★★½ | September 2025

REALLY GOOD EXPOSURE | ★★★★ | September 2025

JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND: SEX WITH STRANGERS | ★★★★★ | July 2025

ALEX KEALY: THE FEAR | ★★★★ | June 2025

KIERAN HODGSON: VOICE OF AMERICA | ★★★★★ | June 2025

JURASSIC

★★★

“well crafted, and well performed”

Ghost Stories arrives at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End just in time for the season of spooks and all things that go bump in the night. Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s show, which they wrote and directed, has enjoyed considerable success since it premiered as a co-production with the Lyric Hammersmith and the Liverpool Everyman in 2010, going on to tour around the world, and even becoming a film. The Ambassadors gets into the act right from the moment you enter the foyer, with lots of spooky sound effects and mysterious numbers chalked up on the walls. This theme continues once you take your seat, building up a nice atmosphere with the help of hazard tape and flickering worker lights. Since this is an eighty minute show without an interval, ushers are kind enough to remind the audience that if they leave the auditorium once the show has begun, they cannot be readmitted. It doesn’t hurt the sense of anticipation by making one feel a bit trapped as one sits down.

Dyson and Nyman clearly know their stuff, and how to build suspense. There are a few nods to other classic tales in this genre. Fans of the paranormal will enjoy the way in which the actors set up each story, ably assisted by a flexible set, designed by Jon Bausor, but most of all by the sound and lighting effects (designed by Nick Manning and James Farncombe, with special effects by Scott Penrose). The effects cue each shocking denouement and can be on the loud and bright side, so be warned. Simon Lipkin as Professor Goodman gives a solid performance as the academic whose career has been spent debunking paranormal phenomena. Naturally, Ghost Stories is all about the three cases he can’t explain. Garry Cooper as Tony Matthews, Preston Nyman as Simon Rifkind, and Richard Sutton as Mike Priddle all shine as the hapless protagonists of the three tales that follow. Richard Sutton gives a particularly good performance as loathsome dealmaker Mike Priddle, but all three succeed in upping the creep factor. Despite these strengths, however, so much of the success of this show depends on careful preparation of the audience, and this can feel a bit manipulative. Stories about the paranormal tend to be at their most effective when viewed in a darkened space with no distractions—such as a cinema, or one’s own living room—alone in the house, of course. There’s just a little too much distraction in the Ambassador’s auditorium with the hazard tape and the flickering lights. Fans may find the film version of Ghost Stories gives more bump in the night for your buck than the theatrical production.

But if this is your first experience of a show about the paranormal, you will probably enjoy Ghost Stories. It’s well crafted, and well performed. More experienced connoisseurs may feel that the special effects overpower the storytelling, however, and don’t give the audience’s imagination enough space to heighten the horror. Because isn’t it what we don’t see or hear, and can’t explain, that create the ultimate shocks in a world so ready with easy answers to every question?

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Chris Payne

Tag Archives: Chris Payne

JURASSIC

★★★

Soho Theatre

JURASSIC

Soho Theatre

★★★

“its infectious silliness makes for lots of big laughs”