Honest - Salisbury Playhouse

THE Salberg at the Playhouse puts on a wide variety of shows and sometimes they are not always to everybody’s taste.

But every so often you strike gold and it is enough to make you want to go back time and time again.

That is the case with Honest, which was a truly stunning show that kept the audience gripped throughout with an emotional rollercoaster that mirrored the reality of teenage life.

The story focuses on Bel (Emma Ballantine) who is soon to leave home for university but spends one more night with her best friend Maisie (Sophie Knight) in the creepy setting of a Bristol graveyard. Maisie invites the simplistic Coogan (Layton Daws), who shines a whole new light on their strained friendship.

As with any good script it provided plenty of shocks and credit must go to Alice Nicholas, the writer, who managed to subtly include so many thought-provoking issues packed into a raw, gritty and rough performance by three highly talented young actors.

As I am still only 23 years old I can somewhat identify with the issues that I faced as a teenager facing the prospects of moving away from home for the first time, something that Honest hits home with a devastating blow.

That doesn’t limit the audience to young people, I believe that everybody could take something away from this thought-provoking show and I can’t commend the Playhouse highly enough for supporting creative modern theatre. I sincerely hope that this show gets a chance to return to Salisbury because it is an absolute must-see.

Alex Rennie