LITTLE BROTHER

Soho Theatre

★★★★

“McAndrew’s writing is sharp and empathetic”

Opening Soho Theatre’s New Theatre season, Little Brother is a darkly comic portrait of two siblings bound by love, guilt, and the impossible weight of care. In a country where stories of the NHS’s decline feel almost routine, writer Eoin McAndrew turns that familiar crisis inward, exploring how systemic failure plays out in the intimate space between those who are sick and those who must keep them alive.

The story centres on Niall, a young man in recovery following an act of self-immolation, and his older sister Brigid, drafted into the exhausting role of carer with little idea where to start. Their relationship, unfolding over the course of Niall’s recovery, forms the beating heart of the play — fraught, funny, and unbearably tender.

McAndrew’s writing is sharp and empathetic, capturing both the absurdity and the agony of navigating a system that can feel more bureaucratic than humane. Some of the play’s most affecting moments lie in its portrayal of how dehumanising treatment can be: Niall is told how desperately he needs help, only to learn there’s a twelve-month waiting list; he’s restricted from watching films that involve fire; and his sister is cautioned more about her language than given guidance on how to support him. McAndrew mines these absurdities for both laughs and quiet despair. It’s a bleak world, but never a joyless one.

At times, the script veers into overt commentary on the state of the NHS, moments where the play briefly preaches what it otherwise shows so effectively, but it mostly remains grounded in the human cost: the fumbling attempts of two damaged people trying, and often failing, to understand each other.

Cormac McAlinden and Catherine Rees anchor the production beautifully as Niall and Brigid, bringing real warmth and volatility to their scenes as siblings who love one another but are often at the end of their tether. McAlinden’s fragile charm makes Niall easy to root for even at his most self-sabotaging, while Rees captures Brigid’s fatigue and frustration without ever losing her compassion. Supporting player Laura Dos Santos makes the most of a smaller role, while Conor O’Donnell is a genuine scene-stealer as Brigid’s awkward on-again, off-again boyfriend, Michael Doran — his emotionally stunted banter providing some of the biggest laughs of the night. The costume design (Ellen Rey De Castro) complements his performance perfectly, adding further humour through a few playful, telling choices.

Emma Jordan’s direction keeps everything grounded, allowing the dark comedy to land without undercutting its emotional truth. Her restraint pays off in the more shocking moments, which feel all the more authentic for their understatement.

The ambitious set design (Zoë Hurwitz) cleverly divides the stage into four distinct rooms — each stark and bleak, yet shaped differently to create a cross-section of domestic life. Jordan uses this to her advantage, making scenes feel claustrophobic one moment and open the next. The cold blues and fluorescent strip lighting (Bethany Gupwell) provide a constant reminder of the sterile hospital world that haunts, but rarely helps, Niall’s recovery. All of this is underpinned by a largely effective sound design (Katie Richardson), which underscores key transitions with a low, menacing pulse, subtly heightening the sense of urgency as the play hurtles toward its finale.

A compelling production, Little Brother is a darkly comic study of care and co-dependence — as funny as it is quietly devastating. McAndrew, Jordan and their cast craft a portrait of sibling love tested by mental health and the buckling state apparatus that can no longer support it, delivering a play that feels both painfully current and profoundly human.

LITTLE BROTHER

Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 22nd October 2025

by Daniel Outis

Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Previously reviewed at Soho Theatre venues:

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

HOUSE OF LIFE | ★★★★★ | May 2025

JORDAN GRAY: IS THAT A C*CK IN YOUR POCKET, OR ARE YOU JUST HERE TO KILL ME? | ★★★★★ | May 2025

WHAT IF THEY ATE THE BABY? | ★★★★★ | March 2025

LITTLE BROTHER

★★★★

“It’s a heavy mix but delivered with a light flavour so it never appears overcrowded”

The ‘Bitesize Festival’ currently running at Riverside Studios is a programme of selected play-readings and comedy, showcasing new material. The name speaks for itself, reinforced by the theatre’s website: ‘Sometimes you just want to experience theatre in bite size pieces. We understand… each performance is an hour or shorter. And each is guaranteed to move, excite and entertain you’.

“The Devil’s in the Chair”, the new play from Eoin McAndrew, boldly flouts the criteria by running at just a little under two hours. Thankfully, though, McAndrew meets the other criteria with his moving and entertaining portrayal of a Northern Irish family brought, somewhat reluctantly, together for Christmas in a remote cottage in rural Donegal. An actor, comedian and writer, McAndrew is a member of the BBC Comedy Writers Room and the Royal Court Theatre’s International Playwriting Group; both accolades evidenced by the sharp dialogue he gives to the dysfunctional characters of this new piece. Adopting the powerful story telling technique of Conor McPherson, with hints of Martin McDonagh’s ‘Leenane’ trilogy, McAndrew lets his own voice come through.

Without fanfare, the cast wander onto the stage before the houselights fade and introduce themselves and the characters they are about to present. Like the other showcases at the festival, the audience are required to build the set in their own minds, aided by (perhaps unnecessary in this case) spoken stage directions from the cast. With script in hand, the five strong ensemble paint a vivid portrait of the world this family inhabit.

Saoirse (Amanda Hurwitz) is the maternal figure, not particularly liked by her three sons, who is grudgingly dragged to the backwater when she would clearly rather be back at home watching re-runs of the ‘Father Ted’ Christmas Special. The well-intentioned but misjudged family reunion is instigated by city-worker and aspiring novelist Liam (Niall McNamee) while Jamie (Matthew Duckett) wallows in self-medication, self-pity and alcohol following a, perhaps, self-induced car accident and Darragh (Cavan Clarke) is trying to rebuild his life, not helped by his siblings who are all too ready to knock him back down like fledgling bullies kicking sandcastles on the beach. This sounds like hellish company in which to spend two hours on a Sunday evening, but the natural empathy of the performers, coupled with the affectionate and sympathetic naturalism of the script make these characters quite likeable. A view initially shared by the outsider Ellen (Emma McDonald), the cottage’s proprietress who repeatedly pops over to see if everything’s alright. She soon learns that it isn’t.

Many themes are tackled including, among others, alcoholism, Catholicism, mental health, suicide, child abuse, lies and betrayal, family obligations. It’s a heavy mix but delivered with a light flavour so it never appears overcrowded. The humour simultaneously brings relief to the gravity of the situation but impels us also to lodge the issue in our heads to consider later. But for the time being the entertainment value of McAndrew’s writing draws us into a very quirky and dark soap opera.

Being a reading rather than a fully staged drama, however, the cast obviously haven’t had the luxury of time to grow into their characters. And initially there are signs of maybe not quite enough read-throughs before the piece is unveiled to the public. But once in their stride, the cast wring out the emotions and we definitely feel the impact of the play’s potential. Watch out for the title; I’m sure we’ll be seeing it again soon.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Tag Archives: Eoin McAndrew

LITTLE BROTHER

★★★★

Soho Theatre

LITTLE BROTHER

Soho Theatre

★★★★

“McAndrew’s writing is sharp and empathetic”