A hostel full of strangers turns a New York trip into a harrowing trial for three friends, The Hostel has finished its run as part of the Camden Fringe.
Written and directed by Isabella Haldren, The Hostel is a 75-minute play with a larger cast than the average Camden Fringe show. Joining Haldren, Annie Porter is assistant director and fight captain, while Jason Theodoulou is fight director and Federica Lodato is intimacy coordinator.
The Hostel follows Ivy, Bea, and Jake, three friends who are visiting New York City and staying at a hostel. As part of their stay, they meet a wide range of New Yorkers and other people staying at the hostel. The personalities of the three friends start clashing, with drama being fuelled by their interactions with the other characters, each of whom is living with struggles of their own.
Eleven actors comprise the cast. KJ Adams, Aimee Sturgess, and Lily Forbes play Jake, Ivy, and Bea. They are joined by Jessica Eden, Daniel Vickers, Oscar Honeysett, Georgy Smales, Briana Croitoru, Jake Moon, Kiefer Bryson, and Lola Núñez, who play a string of characters Jake, Ivy, and Bea encounter at the hostel or during their New York City adventures. The acting throughout is believable, with most of the cast successfully making the characters’ stakes and struggles feel genuine. This gives the conflicts and interactions between characters a sense of emotional weight.
The writing is another strength of The Hostel, particularly in the way it establishes the characters’ personalities and develops their relationships. The dialogue feels natural and down-to-earth. The story also does a good job of slowly building up the tension between the three friends and the other characters, with their unique personalities creating believable conflicts and problems. While there are not many jokes, which is understandable as The Hostel is a drama, the few moments of humour throughout the performance are witty and well-placed. The jokes successfully made the audience laugh, while also making the performance feel lighter.
As a final note, The Courtyard Theatre was an ideal venue for this show, as it features a larger stage that can easily accommodate the large cast, even when most of them are on stage at the same time.
We attended The Hostel at its final performance as part of the Camden Fringe. We hope to see the show return soon!
Complimentary tickets were provided.
Gonzalo
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