REVIEW: CATACLYSMIC @ THE HOPE THEATRE

🎭 CATACLYSMIC

📍 The Hope Theatre, 207 Upper Street, London, N1 1RL

🗓 Saturday 4th July 2026

⭐️ 3 Stars

THE SILENT SCREAM

After a long day that involved heading out of the capital for a matinee show, I made my way across a busy, joyful city - it was the day of London's Pride celebrations, after all - to The Hope Theatre, nestled above a vibrant pub in Islington.

Stepping into the intimate auditorium, the intrigue began right from the off. We found party hats waiting on our seats, while the stage itself was completely covered in the messy remnants of a celebration. Wrapping paper, gifts, banners, and empty cans were strewn across the entire place, with our protagonist, Andy, fast asleep on a bed right in the centre.

CATACLYSMIC, written by Ollie Wimbush and directed by Emily Hawkins, is a largely non-verbal physical theatre piece that tackles the heavy, non-linear stages of grief, nostalgia, and the terrifying anxiety of growing up. As the show wakes up, we watch Andy navigate an inescapable, surreal room, forced to physically pick her way through the debris on the floor as if literally sorting through the scattered remnants of her own memories.

Vera Majoor gives a truly magnetic solo performance as Andy. To hold a room entirely on your own without speaking a word is no easy feat, but Majoor delivers a masterclass in silent storytelling. They shift effortlessly between erratic playfulness, deep sorrow, and sheer panic, capturing a massive emotional range through nothing but physical movement and intense facial expressions.

However, for me, it was the central story that I struggled with if I’m honest. Regular readers of mine will note that the thing I value most in the theatre is a strong narrative core, and here, I felt the plot was just a bit too ambiguous. Andy being completely unable to escape the room, and the sudden, jarring transition from 15th to 30th birthdays are never fully explained. Yes, this leaves the piece wide open to audience interpretation, but with the total lack of spoken dialogue, I really would have liked the storytelling to be a bit tighter and more defined.

Where the production absolutely triumphs, though, is in its fantastic technical elements. The sound design, lighting design, and video projections work hand-in-hand to create a brilliant, menacing atmosphere. Glitchy childhood home videos flash across a television screen, while aggressive phone rings and sudden bursts of party music shatter the silence. These multimedia cues act as Andy's tech-driven tormentors, perfectly visualising her internal trauma and driving the 55-minute narrative forward when words aren't enough.

Despite some reservations about the clarity of the script, this piece shows real potential from a small, ambitious creative team. It is bold, experimental, and exactly the kind of risky, boundary-pushing work that is needed on the fringe theatre scene right now.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair, and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of CATACLYSMIC was gifted by No Such Theatre, who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Vera Majoor as Andy

RUNNING TIME (approx):

50 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Themes of grief; Depictions of distress; Existential anxiety; Loud noises; Intense video projections

AGE GUIDELINE:

16+

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