It’s funny how things can take you back. Films, music, food –
they can all be indicative of a certain time and place. In World’s End, the debut play from writer James Corley, it’s the
references to a video game that immediately transport me back to 1998 when the latest game in the Zelda series was released,
taking me on an epic quest across a mysterious fantasy realm. The play may be
set in that year with the political backdrop of the Kosovan war, but it’s the references to this game and the use of its music that set the scene for me more than
anything.
Corley draws parallels with the game’s coming-of-age themes
and his lead characters – two young men who explore their sexuality as they
bond over Nintendo. But life isn’t as simple as saving the princess. Ben (Tom
Milligan) is a nervous, fidgeting presence with a stammer, patronised by his
overbearing mother Viv (Patricia Potter). Besnik (Mirlind Bega) has an equally
overbearing father in Ylli (Nikolaos Brahimllari), who doesn’t agree with his
son's Anglicised, homosexual behaviour and is passionately embittered about the
war in his home country of Kosovo.
The game’s character travels through time from a child to an
adult in order to save the world; equally Ben and Besnik are forced to grow up in
a world fraught with adult dangers like war and homophobia. Yet the play takes
place entirely in the two family’s flats, a safe haven away from the outside
world. Video games offer an extra dimension and become an important element not
only in forging relationships, but in providing escapism. Where gaming too
often hits the news headlines as it's blamed for violence and gun crimes,
Corley’s play offers a positive message – here, gaming is the very antithesis
of war.
The Kosovan war is little more than a backdrop to Corley’s
main focus: the family drama. As such, Besnik and Ylli feel a little
underwritten compared to their British counterparts. But it’s the relationship
between Ben and Viv that provides the play’s most tender moments. There’s a
great dynamic range between the two actors as their frustrations at one another
boil over into arguments, before settling into apologetic compassion,
reflecting the very tangible difficulties of two people living together in a
one bed flat and the push-pull tension of their inter-locking lives. Both
Milligan and Potter are excellent in their respective roles: Milligan likeable as
the stuttering Ben who’s not as naïve as his mother suspects, Potter devastating
in the play’s final moments as she’s torn between her own moral views and allowing
her son independence.
There’s no fairytale ending here, no magical Triforce to put
the world right again. But sometimes, it takes a little fantasy for us to truly
find ourselves.
4/5
Watch: World’s End runs
at The Kings Head Theatre until 21st September.
Photo: Bettina Adela