Gary Owen's Ring Ring, inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde, is made up of separate scenes showing different people and their relationships. We see a couple making plans for their future, two people bumping into each other on the street, a marriage falling apart, a teenager with a crush on his tutor, and strangers chatting outside a wedding, and so forth. Each scene is well written and feels real, giving us a quick look at how people connect with each other.
The cast—Izzi McCormack, Iwan Bond, Tiger Tingley, Alfie Todd, and Leisa Gwenllian—are all excellent, bringing honesty to every scene. Owen has a real talent for writing dialogue that sounds natural and finding the moments that matter in everyday life.
But here's the problem: Ring Ring works like a photo album rather than a story. While each scene captures something true about relationships, we never spend enough time with any of the characters to really get to know them. We meet people, see a bit of their lives, then move on to the next scene before we've had a chance to care deeply about what happens to them.
By the end, you're left feeling a bit unsatisfied. There's no real storyline tying everything together, and I wasn't sure what Owen actually wanted to say with this play. The press release mentions "connection, hope and human resilience," but I left the theatre wondering what the bigger point was supposed to be. Are these isolated moments meant to accumulate into something greater, or is the fragmentation itself the point?
Ring Ring is undeniably entertaining and well-crafted in its individual parts. But as a complete theatrical experience, it remains a collection of compelling sketches rather than a fully realised portrait—leaving you admiring the technique while craving something more substantial to hold onto.
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Photos: Craig Sugden