Review | Peak Stuff at Minerva Theatre, Chichester: "Pitched brilliantly"

This is the fundamental part of the human condition explored in Peak Stuff, written by Billie Collins and produced by ThickSkin theatre company.

An hour and a quarter long with no interval, it tells the tale of three characters, whose stories are woven into each other.

We are introduced to all three via a profile of their likes and dislikes, projected onto a screen behind them - the first of many technological innovations.

Alice is 15 and studying for her GCSEs - but is craving the sort of validation that no amount of TikTok can provide.

So she decides to protest a fast fashion chain by dumping dead animals.

Charlie lives in a shared house but is in a perpetual state of isolated numbness, until she meets a person online who wants to buy her brain.

Finally there is Ben, a materialistic marketing executive who appears to be a typical ‘lad’ when he ghosts a girl who seems to have feelings for him - until we realise his reasons really are about him, not her.

As the play progresses, the superficiality of their lives is chipped away until we reach the core of their emotional states, with increasing intensity.

The visual language mirrors this, with the projections, lighting and illuminated stage becoming increasingly vivid and pulsating.

As too does the sonic landscape, performed expertly by Matthew Churcher on the drums.

But there’s a glaring omission in my review so far, because I’ve yet to mention the best thing about this show - all three characters are played by the same actor.

Meg Lewis puts in one of the most impressive performances I’ve seen in a long while, managing to create such distinct personalities that the flashing ticker-tape showing their names was hardly needed.

Given the weighty topics being explored, including mental health and the human condition, the acting could quite easily be overwrought or pretentious.

But it is pitched brilliantly, with such warmth that I was invested in the trio right up until the lights came down.

Watching them, it felt like catching a glimpse of a future star before they get ‘big’.

So be sure to take the opportunity for bragging rights while you can.

Until Saturday, February 17.