Alexandra Maxwell

Frank 4 Sophie 4 Eva

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Reviewed by Matt Forrest

Opening Night verdict ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As the interval started a lady sat in front of me and said to her friend “There is something in there I think everyone can relate to”. The more I thought about this, the more she was bang on the money. Frank 4 Sophie 4 Eva is an honest, sometimes hilarious, occasionally uncomfortable look at the struggles and pitfalls of married life.

We are first introduced to Sophie (Alexandra Maxwell) and later Frank (Simon Naylor) as they attend a couples therapy session. Frank’s lateness starts the session off on the wrong foot and things go from bad to worse as there are petty squabbles a plenty to be had over personal hygiene habits and each other’s minor irritations. However the crux of their problems stems from sex, or lack of it.

Frank cannot understand why Sophie no longer wants to be intimate with him, when he is still madly in love with his wife. His frustrations are further exacerbated by the fact that Sophie may not be attracted to him, but seems to have a lot of time for Scottish beefcake Jamie from TV show Outlander or that she changes her personality everytime they bump into her old boyfriend when shopping in Tesco.

What starts off as childish bickering turns into a game of one-upmanship between the pair, where it soon becomes more serious, eventually with both leaving the session with the outcome neither wanted. The second act takes place in a bar three years after the session where we get to catch up with the warring couple, but to say any more would spoil the show.

The play is anchored by two outstanding central performances. Simon Naylor is in fine form as loutish Frank, clearly relishing the spicey dialogue. However the shift from male bravado, to a caring, lost sensitive soul is one that feels natural and thoroughly believable.

Alexandra Maxwell is equally impressive as the hard-faced, cold Sophie. She more than holds her own in the verbal jousts, however it takes a little more time for her to show her vulnerability, it’s a subtle, measured turn. The pair have exceptional chemistry and this is the bedrock of the whole show.   

Writer Ian Watson’s clever, punchy script has a trojan horse quality to it. It lulls you in at first with some caustic one-liners as Sophie and Frank trade shots, which are at times gross, scathing but hilarious, with no subject off limits – porn, haemorrhoids and toilet habits are all covered to brilliant comic effect. However throughout there is a gradual shift in tone, and eventually the play makes observations about mental health, sexual abuse and trauma, handling them in a sensitive yet unsentimental way. Whilst at first it may come across as ‘laddish even, crude’, it certainly softens towards the conclusion.

With such strong themes running through the show it’s great to see that the run is in partnership with Andy’s Man Club, a suicide prevention charity doing a great work across the UK.

This is a sharp, entertaining and intelligent comedy/drama that comes from a good place. By the end you want more and genuinely care for its characters, which for me is the hallmark of a great production.

Frank 4 Sophie 4 Eva is at 53two until 8th November, tickets available here.

For more information about Andy’s Man Club visit: https://andysmanclub.co.uk/

Premiere of One Good Night comes to Hope Mill Theatre this February

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BANNER AD

‘It makes you lose your mind…it sits in your head and it grows…it’s like that ivy…it starts small but it feeds off everything’

Following an Arts Council funded R&D at Hope Mill Theatre in 2017 One Good Night is back at the same venue for its highly anticipated full-length premiere.

The piece is a comic drama about the effects of female sexual assault and centres around the story of Amelia (Sammy Winward) who has been raped by her boyfriend Pete (Oliver Devoti)…or has she?

Between her goody two shoes friend May (Misha Duncan-Barry) and their nosy next-door neighbour Julie (Susan McArdle), Amelia is lost and confused with a blurred sense of reality. With friendship, laugher and belief, can they overcome and have just one good night?

Led by a female core creative team, writer Aisling Caffrey, director Alyx Tole and producer Alexandra Maxwell One Good Night is an entertaining production full of dark humour. It is designed to educate and enlighten about rape plus the effects of trauma on survivors’ psyche and their relationships and to empower survivors of sexual assault.

With rehearsals aptly starting during Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week this week (3rd-9th February) it is all the more important that this production is seen and its message heard.

One Good Nightwill run for 5 evenings from 25th February – 29th February. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.

Ticket info £12 full / £10 concession (+ £1.50 booking fee) / £5 DSA & Income Support (Proof Required)

The Loves of Others

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We’ve all been there, that awkward moment when you witness a couple have blazing row, it could be  friends of yours, or complete strangers, I once saw a couple verbally massacre each other in the snacks and nibbles isle at Tesco  the night before Christmas Eve, it was embarrassing, crass, but most of all entertaining. Well imagine that multiplied by three and the genesis of the latest offering from play write Alex Keelan, The Loves of Others.

Set during two separate dinner parties held a year apart, we are treated to an insight in the lives of 3 couple’s lives: we have the host and hostess of the party Max (Dan Jefferies) Leanne (Alexandra Maxwell), he’s a boozy hangover from the ‘Loaded’ generation, and she’s Hyacinth Bucket only on Facebook. There are Tina (Amy Forrest) and her partner Dave (William J Holstead), she has a few confidence issues, and he’s a bit laid back to deal with them. Finally there is Vic (Alice Proctor) and Ike (Kyle Walker), she’s strong willed and feisty, he’s a people pleaser. As both dinner parties continue, relationships become more fractured, friendships and boundaries are pushed to the limit.


The script is a fine blend of acerbic put downs, and on point observations, whilst at times dealing with dark subjects including abuse, grief and prejudice Whilst some may feel dissatisfied with the rather abrupt ending, I rather enjoyed that the play left it’s characters dealing with their issues as opposed to resolving them: like a snapshot into their world.

There are fine solid performances throughout from all 6 actors: however I find that none of their characters were particular likeable, just as you begin warming to one of them, they’ll do or say something that will just grate on you. Director Kayleigh Hawkins certainly works her cast hard; with full costume and scene changes throughout neither which detract from the story. There is no interval either so the play never loses momentum allowing the lighter moments to shine through, whilst enabling the tension build and the mood to darken.


The promotional material claims The Loves of Others to be “A Modern Northern Abigail’s Party”, which will certainly draw in the punters, but may also mean that the two could be unfairly compared. This is a funny, brave, ambitious, and at times miserable look at modern British life, a hark back to the Great British kitchen sink dramas, only replacing the kitchen sink with a selfie, and a bottle of vino!