Developed from an idea for a short film, Steven Hevey’s In My Name focuses on the day of the terrorist attacks on the 7th of July. It follows a day in the life of Grim (James Alexandrou) who has bunked off work to feel sorry for himself following a one night stand, his first encounter after being dumped by a recent ex-girlfriend he desperately wants to reconnect with. Thrown in the mix is his new flatmate, Egg (Kevin Watt), who we’re always unsure of what he really does or why he’s there. Eventually it is revealed that he is an ex-marine but this is a fact that Grim seemed to be unaware of until Egg dresses in fatigues and brandishes a knife.
Thrown into the mix is the all-bling, all-talk, British-Asian, Royal (Ray Panthanki), who is Grim’s boss and comes by to have a night of take-aways and Bruce Willis. With Egg’s barely contained rage, Royal’s high-energy verbiage and Grim’s plodding and gormless nature, we get an odd mix of characters to share an evening with.
Played in the intimate space of the Old Red Lion, this production is in your face and the violence peppered throughout feels like it will break the forth wall at any moment. Egg’s weapon of choice escalates from knife to steel pipe and eventually an arsenal of guns as he takes not only a helpless take-away driver hostage but also the two other boys in the flat as he questions their Britishness and their inability to climb out of their own apathetic ways.
Though there are sparkling bits of dialogue, especially Royal’s sexual take on the questions of Guess Who, and fun character choices in the playing of Royal by Panthanki, In My Name felt a bit contrived as it treaded on similar territory to other plays dealing with the terror attacks. As it is now 3 years on, there is an expectation of a new look on how we dealt with and are dealing with our war on terror. With more development on the inconsistencies within the plot and a further challenge of the ideas within the play, this could have gone from being an OK piece of theatre to something challenging and timeless.
