World’s End at the King’s Head Theatre review – ‘culture, class and the war in Kosovo’

World's End at the King's Head Theatre
Ben (Tom Milligan) and Besnik (Mirlind Bega) in World's End at the King's Head Theatre. Photo by Bettina Adela.

★★★ by Ifan Llewelyn

The Kosovo War is a chapter in history that most of us have some faint recollection of watching on the news, or reading about in the morning paper. You hear the name and slowly it comes trickling back to you. Back in the late nineties, it was the news event that was on everyone’s lips when conversing around the water cooler or something you’d crane your neck to see footage of when grabbing your evening pint. This was not the case for the province’s people whose brothers, sisters and neighbours were killed in the armed conflict. It’s the tension between these two experiences, of gazing on from the comfort of your living room and being caught up in the brutal war, that we see play out in James Corley’s debut work World’s End, implicating issues of class, immigration, sexuality and trauma along with it. 

A concrete hallway littered with boxes marked “Kitchen” and “Bedroom” sets the scene as down or their luck mother, Viv, and son, Ben, move into an ex-council in Chelsea. Eager to lend a helping hand is their Kosovar Albanian soon-to-be neighbour Ylli, who drags out his son Besnik who begrudgingly helps when his father has to run off for his late shift. Ben is the nervous type, who struggles with these social interactions, his anxiety causing him to incessantly tug at his coat. His mother Viv on the other had swans in and dominates the scene, warmly greeting her new neighbours while nudging her son to get on with it. It’s clear that cramming her family heirlooms into a one-bed ex-council wasn’t what Viv had envisioned for herself, but she’s just happy to be back in Chelsea. The same cannot be said for Ben.

World's End at the King's Head Theatre
Viv (Patricia Potter) and Ben (Tom Milligan) in World’s End at the King’s Head Theatre. Photo by Bettina Adela.

As these two families of two become better acquainted their clear differences become ever more apparent. This is a rock-bottom for Viv, but for refugee Ylli it’s a home that his late wife fought to establish. Their initial interactions are delicious, with Patricia Potter masterfully portraying the ever so understanding upper-middle-class British woman trying her best to understand an immigrant through his thick accent. The leaning of the ear towards him and the vacant smile of a woman playing the friendly neighbour, though clearly making a few unsaid judgements. Potter’s highfalutin exuberance is a delight to watch; you find yourself watching entire scenes with your eyes only on her. 

This is a story that many of us are familiar with, especially in the British capital where culture and class clashes are unavoidable. James Croley’s writing is sensitive to the plight of the immigrant family, though he like many of us is far more familiar with the experience of living next door to them. The Ben and Viv scenes are poignant and relatable, but the Ylli and Besnik scenes leave a little to be desired with the father-son dynamic not quite taking root. 

More than neighbourly conviviality ties these two families together as a romance develops between the two young boys. Ben and Besnik’s flirtatious scenes sitting in front of the Nintendo are adorable, with Tom Milligan delivering on the apprehensive and neurotic energy. There’s a real A Beautiful Thing feeling to these scenes, with their romance unavoidably feeling inevitable. 

World's End at the King's Head Theatre
Ylli (Nikolaos Brahimllari) and Viv (Patricia Potter) in World’s End at the King’s Head Theatre. Photo by Bettina Adela.

The play comes to a stark and admittedly strange conclusion as Ben and Besnik get caught up in yet another big news story of the late ’90s. Their first evening out in Soho together is interrupted by the bright glare of red light and a deafening sound. Shoe-horning two of the biggest news stories of 1999 is a strange choice and gives the play a Forest Gump feel, though a little less convincing. The devastating end does, however, break down Viv’s prim veneer and makes her confront the “heavy” baggage she’s been shrugging off throughout the play, though she does not overcome her overbearing nature. 

World’s End is running at The King’s Head Theatre, Angel N1 1QN until 21st September. Tickets at KingsHeadTheatre.com.

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