Review: HIM. at Union Theatre

In their early twenties, Jane (Hannah Chalmers) unexpectedly fell pregnant with Charlie’s (Niall Sheehy) baby. Her head was filled with dreams of moving to New York to become a fashion designer but confronted with the prospect of losing this future, she decided to have an abortion. Charlie, on the other hand, had other ideas. He was desperately in love with his partner, Osmond (Gary Tushaw), and wanted to make their life together work, so he had Osmond propose that they will raise the baby together and wire Jane the money she needs to realise her dream in return. However, all on the condition that she will never see or have any contact with the child after the birth.

Charlie and Osmond have happily raised their 16-year-old son, Kit (Alan P. Jones), in a small village outside of London alongside Charlie’s mother, known to the family as Nana (Julie Wood). On Charlie’s 40th birthday, however, the family is sent into disarray when his best friend from 20 years ago, Jane, waltzes through the door. Much to Osmond's grievance, Jane is welcomed in by Charlie and Nana, meets Kit for the first time, and tensions only grow when Osmond gives Charlie his present, a trip to New York, and Jane offers to take care of Kit whilst they’re gone. Over the next few days, more of the story and secrets unravel. With the adults trying their hardest to keep the past buried, will curious and determined Kit uncover the truth beneath the lies?

HIM. is a real dive into the messiness of human relationships. Whether that’s on-stage relationships such as Jane and Charlie’s friendship, or off-stage relationships such as Charlie’s relationship with his father, who disowned him after he came out as gay. The characters, Charlie in particular, have a lot of depth and backstory to them, and this is clear in the actions they take throughout the story. This makes them feel even more real to the audience.

There are some really emotional and hard-hitting conversations between the characters. One of these being Jane expressing to Charlie the grief she feels over not being a “real” mother. The way she expresses this is through a longing to be inconvenienced by school pickups and replacing outgrown shoes. Wishing she could receive a Mother’s Day card and imagining what a child would write. Her positioning on the outside of an exclusive club that she yearns to be a part of is extremely moving, beautifully written and wonderfully performed by Hannah Chalmers.

Overall, HIM. is a character study that unpacks a myriad of themes, from family, friendship, homosexuality, motherhood, childlessness to much more. I could see a literary fiction fan falling in love with this play and all of its complexities.