Review: HELP! WE ARE STILL ALIVE at Seven Dials Playhouse

Stuart King 11 September, 2022, 10:10

Elijah Ferreira and Jade Johnson play an ill-matched protagonist couple in a new post-apocalyptic musical HELP! WE ARE STILL ALIVE which opened at the intimate Seven Dials Playhouse this week. The creative enterprise largely concocted by Imogen Palmer and Tim Gilvin, sees Finn and Jass forced to stick with one another when after emerging from 2 days spent hiding from drone sounds in a mortuary freezer compartment, they discover everyone else has disappeared.

Jade Johnson and Elijah Ferreira in HELP! We Are Still Alive at Seven Dials Playhouse. Photo by Danny Kaan.

Despite vague references to killer mist (and nods to the more prescient unfolding global eco disaster) the writers have thankfully avoided yet another zombie scare-fest or a didactic dystopian misery yarn. Instead they have focused their energies on developing an incompatibility back story which leads to a gentle unravelling as the years progress. Neurotic and sensitive Finn cannot understand why Jass would want to part when there’s no-one else to shack-up with, until she confesses to stumbling across 7 sleeping bags and a cryptic note in a back office during one of their many outings to deplete the stocks of tinned goods at local abandoned supermarkets.

Directed by Georgie Rankom on a small square plinth set, the play’s premise is rather heavily laden with unconvincing plot references, but thankfully the chemistry and energy of the performers in bringing the hummable tunes to life (with some nicely delivered comic moments), won over the largely young and supportive audience on press night.