A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First @ theSpace
Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland's Fringe First-winning new play is a tightly-woven DIY masterpiece about boyhood, queerness, masculinity and empire
After two years of smash Fringe hits with And Then the Rodeo Burned Down and What If They Ate the Baby?, Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland have a high bar to meet. A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First clears it with ease, having earned the duo their third consecutive Fringe First Award. Possibly the most cohesive of their three Fringe projects to date, LBJ is a heartwarming – and heartbreaking – narrative about growing up in the seat of empire.
The play follows two best friends, Ace and Grasshopper, as they do their best to become men. Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the piece uses the pair's signature quick wit and physical theatre to question the relationship between imperial power and constructions of masculinity. While the subject matter is well-trodden, the piece is not at all heavy-handed. It's as entertaining as it is insightful.
With light design by Angelo Sagnelli, LBJ is a tightly-woven masterpiece of DIY theatre. It says everything it needs to without compromising Rice and Roland's artistic spin. It's a prime example of how theatre artists can use their medium to evoke something inarticulable. The piece weaves together three related narratives: a parable about a boy desperate to become a man, a tale of two boys at scout camp, and a story about two American soldiers in Vietnam. Though the play's perspective never strays outside of these three narratives, Rice and Roland manage to invoke the audience's knowledge of what the United States has done and continues to do abroad. Violence, terror and suppression are always just offstage.
LBJ is whip smart and deeply sensitive. Rice and Roland's performances evoke acutely familiar memories of growing into one's gender and queerness amidst a jingoistic and – dare I say – fascistic American environment. It's another home run for this powerhouse team, who continue to thrill with their creativity and insight.
A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First, theSpace @ Niddry Street (Upper Theatre), run ended; King's Head Theatre, London, 4-14 Sep, various times