All is Pink in West Berkshire County is a laugh-out-loud debut piece written, directed and performed by a group of very talented students from the University of Leeds. The dark comedy follows a Christmas Day dinner party at the wealthy Abbey family home, as parents Michael and Denise welcome their daughter Eve and her new boyfriend Rory for an evening of drinking, party games, and… cannibalism?
Yes, this is indeed a comedy about eating humans, and it’s a darn good one at that. Matthew Dangerfield shines as the Abbey family patriarch, his character being equal parts hilarious and morally reprehensible, and Dangerfield is unafraid to embarrass himself in pursuit of the perfect level of cringe. Fellow Leeds student Siobhan Ward makes the housewife Denise Abbey equally funny and ridiculous and the pair have incredible chemistry as posh, Thatcher-loving supervillains. They lead us through a fifty-minute romp of comedy, incredulity, and, yes, cannibalistic behavior.
All is Pink begins as a ‘meet the family’ comedy in a near future alternate universe where consuming livestock has become illegal due to environmental and humanitarian concerns. It is in this context that daughter Eve (played by Maisie Stalham) desperately tries to get her parents to play nice with her new and far less posh boyfriend Rory (Ben Greenwood). I longed for a little more exposition about this young couple – how long have they been dating? What do they like (or love) about one another? How did they end up together at all? But alas, such questions are side stepped and we only meet the lovebirds as they approach the sixth circle of Hell, also known as the Abbey household, where the hijinks commence.
Writer and director Harry Daisley does an excellent job balancing the comedic elements of All is Pink with its (very timely) social commentary about wealth. The greed and bigotry of its posh characters is clearly on display. Their ability to operate above the confines of legality or morality is a major issue of the show, one which feels particularly timely as a certain American billionaire faces 91 felonies in four different states while prepping for another presidential election cycle.
As Daisley holds a magnifying glass up to the Abbey family and their gluttony, he illustrates the avarice of wealthy people across the world. There is something fundamentally abhorrent about people living in mansions while others sleep rough, and feasting while others starve. Daisley uses the fictional premise of cannibalism to explore these issues, and he does so with a healthy dose of humour which makes such an exploration both comedic and thought-provoking.
All is Pink features a stellar cast, incredible production quality, and finishes with a series of plot twists you absolutely won’t see coming. If you’re looking for a unique dark comedy from new talented faces, All is Pink in West Berkshire County is certainly worth the watch.
All is Pink in West Berkshire County runs daily at 17:05 through August 26 at theSpace @ Symposium Hall. Tickets are available for purchase here.
Image courtesy of All is Pink in West Berkshire County, provided to The Student as press material.