REVIEW: WHO TO CALL WHEN THE WORLD STARTS TO IMPLODE (AND YOU'RE CRYING AT TESCO AT 11AM) @ BARONS COURT THEATRE

🎭 Who to Call When the World Starts to Implode (and You're Crying at Tesco at 11am)

📍 Barons Court Theatre, 28a Comeragh Road, London, W14 9HR

🗓 Saturday 22nd August 2026

⭐️ 2 Stars

CLUNKY AND DISJOINTED

It was time for another trip out, this time making my way across London to one of my favourite fringe spaces, the wonderfully atmospheric Barons Court Theatre, to watch a matinee performance of this new bilingual piece as part of the Camden Fringe.

On entering the auditorium, the actors were already on stage, with one of them playing a soothing tune on the keyboard. Regular readers of mine will know that this is a creative choice I really enjoy, as it adds immediate intrigue and settles you right into the space before the lights even go down.

The play itself dives headfirst into a messy, high-stakes queer love story between Isabel, a deeply stressed Turkish international student, and Sophie, a carefree musician. It tackles some incredibly heavy, modern themes - ranging from the gruelling anxiety of navigating UK graduate visas and cultural identity to the immense pressures of success and complex maternal relationships. It aims to show the exact moment a close friendship gets completely upended by emerging romantic feelings, all wrapped up in a chaotic, fast-paced package.

Although I appreciate the intent of the piece, and it does have potential, I have to admit that I struggled somewhat with this one. Being someone whose brain works in this way, I completely understood the ADHD aspect of the storytelling, but unfortunately, I found the writing quite clunky and disjointed. The flip-flopping and time jumps were really jarring and if I'm completely honest I quickly became disengaged with the story.

I applaud the creatives for trying something different and pushing boundaries, but for me, everything needs a purpose. A bilingual play can really create something special, but here it just didn't make sense to me. Everything is so quick - too quick in fact - which results in the story never being allowed to breathe. This didn't allow me to be able to successfully connect to the characters which ultimately led to me not caring about them or what happened to them. I actually struggled to find any believability in the relationship between the two.

It wasn't all bad, though. The live music elements worked well, and technically the piece was very good, with the lighting and sound designs working well to complement the on-stage action and help define those rapid shifts in reality.

Ultimately, when a play fails to keep my attention and my mind starts to wander, it doesn't make for a great experience. A brave effort, and it should have been right up my street, but this one just wasn't for me.

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 reviewer.  

My ticket for this performance of Who to Call When the World Starts to Implode (and You're Crying at Tesco at 11am) was gifted by Out of Place 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:

Nil Uzer as Isabel; Chloe Payne as Sophie

RUNNING TIME (approx):

50 minutes, with no interval

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