AN INSTINCT

Old Red Lion Theatre

★★★½

“a brave piece of theatre”

An Instinct is an inside look into coercive control, manipulation and makes you question everything. Littered with moments of shock, suspense and humour this play really takes you on a journey to an alternate experience of our once lived lockdown days.

Written by Hugo Timbrell, we are transported back to the beginning of COVID, to a cabin in the middle of the woods where we find ex lovers Max (Conor Dumbrell) and Charlie (Ben Norris) who have reunited to face isolation together.

Dumbrell and Norris are great at setting the tone and mood immediately. We see two people figuring out a situation together, but as we are drip fed information, we start to question everything presented to us. As we watch our main characters battle with trust, loyalty and the lack of both, we as an audience also ask the same questions and battle with the reality being played out. By the time our third player, Tom (Joe Walsham) enters the scene – there is a strong desire for the truth amongst the characters and audience alike.

Timbrell has created a brave piece of theatre here. There is a real understanding for how manipulation, gaslighting and passive aggressiveness play out without being biased. You are shown all sides of a story and are left to make your own judgements. He makes large, bold choices in the dynamics of the plot, with light comedy appearing throughout. The writing is very clever, clear and consistent – keeping you hooked in the twists and turns.

An Instinct is a thriller which can sometimes be a tricky genre, especially with the pressure of being able to lure your audience into anticipation ready to be thrilled. There are a couple of jump scare moments that can catch any audience member unaware, and we are pulled into a very unstable environment that is rife with mistrust. However there are also moments where the play runs the risk of being awkward.

The actors do well to sustain character and drive the plot through its highs and lows, but it’s a hard job to keep the suspense of a thriller, especially in theatre without the glitz and glamour of TV and film tricks. This pressure was almost too much for our actors at times. This didn’t take too much away from the play, and didn’t leave a bad taste, in fact it was a fun experience and audiences can take something away from it.

Director Lucy Foster delivered superbly. The transitions, the use of space and blocking of the actors are flawless and really lets us into their world by reinforcing that fourth wall and giving us a real “fly on a wall” experience. The sound (Julian Starr) and lighting (Caelan Oram) really supports the realism of the whole production and all the tricks and effects are used perfectly. Well worth seeing.

AN INSTINCT

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed on 19th November 2025

by Paige Wilson-Lawrence

Photography by Craig Fuller

Previously reviewed at this venue:

CURATING | ★★ | November 2025

DEATH BELLES | ★★★½ | October 2025

FRAT | ★★ | May 2025

EDGING | ★★★ | September 2023

THIS IS NORMAL | ★★★★ | September 2023

AN INSTINCT

★★

“comes over as a 15-minute sketch which has been extended beyond its capacity to entertain”

The afterlife offers rich territory for writers and actors. We know nothing solid about it, after all. In this new play by Helen Cunningham (who also takes the lead as Freya), it is treated as an opportunity for comic character development and a chance to poke fun at red tape.

The play opens with a young woman (Andrea Matthea) awkwardly dressed in Edwardian costume and puffing on a vape as she sits near a work station piled with paperwork. A young man (Gwithian Evans) bursts in, flurried and in a state of chaos. A bit of comic stage business follows that involves vaping, a computer that he can’t get to work, and a bottle of whisky.

It soon transpires that this is a waiting room for the afterlife where souls are being processed and prepared for their life in eternity. The job of the two on stage is to ‘curate’ these souls individually. With a long list to work through, they exit in a hurry; the stage goes dark and when the lights come on again Freya is found lying on the floor as if she has been carelessly tossed into the room. Evans’ curator enters and the fun begins.

Freya has no idea she is dead, cannot remember the circumstances that led to her to this place and, anyway, is suffering from a splitting headache. An interview peppered with misunderstandings ensues but the curator trips over another piece of mishandled admin and exits to sort it out, leaving the fourth player, John (Trey Fletcher), to blunder in by accident. The twist – that he is from 1898 – gives further opportunities for a comic dialogue of misunderstandings – and leads to a troublesome confession.

Unfortunately, there are too many ideas and much of the comic potential is never fully realised. I wondered if this was a first outing as a director by Nikoletta Soumeledis (who appeared at the Old Red Lion earlier this year in ‘Spent’). She is an experienced actor and writer but fails to get a grip on this play. It comes over as a 15-minute sketch which has been extended beyond its capacity to entertain. There are too many long pauses, the anachronisms are not properly dealt with (would a man from 1898 use the expression ‘upbeat’?) and the ending peters out making no sense. The actors all need tighter direction with the exception of Evans who delivers a well-tuned haphazard performance in keeping with his character. He is the most engaging presence on stage and an actor to watch for the future.

Tag Archives: Old Red Lion Theatre

AN INSTINCT

★★★½

Old Red Lion Theatre

AN INSTINCT

Old Red Lion Theatre

★★★½

“a brave piece of theatre”