Party Worth Crashing

Ruminating on the highs and lows of being young, free and confused, ‘Party Worth Crashing’ asks its audience to raise a glass to ‘generation twenty-something’ before it is over. The implication seems to be that anyone over thirty might as well be dead and while that may be a popular impression among the much lauded twenty-somethings, it could well make older audience members wince.
Rather than telling one story, the piece strings together scenes and songs which deal with the confusion and pain of not knowing one’s place in the world and the horrible uncertainty of believing that everyone else has it figured out. Unsurprisingly, some of this is successful and some is not. The song between two girls contemplating a little drunken lipstick lesbianism seems to be thrown in purely for titillation, and the way the characters incessantly haul suitcases around the stage is not exactly subtle. However the monologue from the character with a colostomy bag at 25 is very affecting, as is the song in which a girl is asked to run away from it all. The play also has some very funny moment, notably when the cast, purring, playfully hit on audience members before singing about anonymous sex.
‘Party Worth Crashing’ is fun, and has moments when it does strike quite close to the bone. Unfortunately, the only question which lingers after the performance is, “What exactly were they trying to say?”

3/5

Keira Farrell