Blood Runs Thicker

This is a 'must see' play. The audience were totally immersed in it, laughing out loud in unison one minute yet covering their eyes and not daring to look the next minute. This is most certainly not a play for the faint hearted!

Ed Baranski, who wrote it, plays one of the central characters. Had I not seen him in the flesh I would have expected him to be older, as the play could surely not have been written by someone so young. However, it is a gem, tautly written, cleverly constructed, and delivered with aplomb. I will be surprised if there is a better student production this year.

I left the theatre feeling privileged to have seen it, and wondering whether it might not reappear in a few years' time in a mainstream theatre. If it does, the actors had better be good because the 4 thesps in this version were, simply stated, outstanding. Ruby Thomas gave one of the most accomplished performances I have yet seen from a student (I have lived in Oxford for many years and was a student there myself, so this is no small praise). Totally convincing, she was confident, credible and fired on all cylinders.

But the others actors also shone bright: Ed, the husband with a dark secret, was appropriately menacing and conspiratorial, whilst Rhys Bevan was equally accomplished (a cross between Joey from Friends - sorry Rhys - and some of the wackier students we have all known and loved for real). Both actors had demanding roles which they delivered with skill and commitment. And Ollo Clark was suitably menacing; albeit at the end of the play I actually felt sorry for him (you need to see it to understand this - I can't say more without giving away the plot).

The play was not perfect. Ed shoehorned in just a little too much at times for my taste, and I lost count of the number of scene changes. But he has all the hallmarks of a fine playwright and I expect to see more of his work in due course. My final comment is that I tend not to laugh out loud, but there were times when I was laughing so much I couldn't hear the dialogue. All in all a top evening.

Oxford Don (DI User), 15/06/11

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A moment that I shall forever cherish came in late 2009, Just before xmas, when I was sent to see a play by the name of The Local by this very website. It was written by a student named Ed Baranski, and was politely described as a "Black Comedy". Being a fan of said genre, I volunteered to review it, completely oblivious to the giddy, macabre delights the production had in store for me. I won't divulge too much, as you can read my review of the piece in the Daily Info archives; what I will say, however, is that it was one of the most delightfully twisted, madcap plays I have ever seen in my life! It was with minor trepidation, then, that I volunteered to review the latest piece by this (to my mind) certified lunatic; anxious as to what brain addling, macabre and genre bending pitfalls could possibly lay before me. Okay, I'll do my best. Ed Baranski's Blood Runs Thicker, anyone?

It's difficult to describe the plot of the play without revealing some of the twists, but basically, a newly wed couple by the names of Mike and Laura (played by the author and Ruby Thomas), are living together in harmony. One day, whilst Mike is out, a shifty looking young man breaks into the house, and proceeds to urinate on the living room floor, in full view of Laura. Laura warns the intruder that her husband is soon to return, and he scarpers. A few days later, when Mike is away once again, the stranger enters the house, ties Laura to a chair, and attempts to rape her at knifepoint. Luckily, Mike walks in, and manages to fend the stranger off. After some interrogation from his wife, it soon becomes apparent that Mike knows of the intruder's identity, causing frictions between the pair of them. To her horror, Laura also discovers her brother, Billy, is keeping something from her as well......

I have to say, without wishing to sound too biased towards the writer, I thought that this was an absolutely superb production. Andrew Wilkinson's direction is taut and edgy, you could almost feel the sweat dripping from the members of the audience as they sat on the very edges of their seats; whilst Baranski's writing is fluid, witty and almost unbearably intense. One minute the play has you roaring with laughter, the next minute you are quite literally cowering in terror! Baranski is brilliantly understated in the central role, and the rest of the cast are equally impressive. Ruby Thomas delivers a tour de force performance as the put upon wife, Laura. One of the most intense, emotive performances I have ever witnessed, in fact. Seriously, this girl needs to be seen to be believed! Rhys Bevan is hilarious as Laura's drug addled brother Billy, and Ollo Clark is memorably sinister as Nick, the intruder.

Blood Runs Thicker reveals a more mature side to Ed Baranski's writing, whilst also remaining riotously funny, and is equal to his earlier work, if not better. Imagine, if you will, an unholy merging of Reservoir Dogs, Psychoville, Rear Window and The Big Lebowski. And you're still not quite there! The Burton Taylor Studio is the perfect setting for this piece; intimate, tight and just a little claustrophobic! For these reasons, it is by far my favourite theatre in Oxford, it has an atmosphere like no other in the city.

This play, running at just over an hour and a half, would make a great film. In my opinion, Ed Baranski is the most exciting, witty and talented young playwright in the country at the moment. Blood Runs Thicker is an astonishing mixture of comedy, horror, pathos and drama. Above all, it is a great piece of storytelling. Every single person involved in this production deserves to go on to greater things, such is their innate understanding of both each other and the piece that they are performing. This is one of the sickest, funniest, blackest, cruellest pices of theatre I have ever laid my eyes on. And believe me, that's saying something! Recommended for fans of horror, Hitchcock, comedy, Shakespeare and Satanism. Not recommended for those of a sensitive, weak, or closed minded disposition. If Baranski doesn't make it as a writer, I will eat my hat and change my name to Ethel. You have been warned....

Sean Diamond (DI Reviewer), 15/06/11

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