Everbody Needs Good Neighbours

This review of Where Do We Live is by Stephen Brown and was published in the London Metro on 23 May 2002

Christopher Shinn's new play is about neighbours in an apartment block in New York. On one side of the hallway, writer Stephen (a superbly natural Daniel Evans) is shocked to discover that his boyfriend Tyler (Adam Garcia, pictured with Evans, right) doesn't care about those around him. On the other, Shed (Noel Clark) is dealing drugs and finding his disabled uncle (Cyril Nri) an irritating burden.

People talk and do little in fragmentary scenes, the central drama between Stephen and Tyler never really catches fire, and the writing is peppered with rather serious political comment. Richard Wilson's slothful direction and Julian McGowan's set, which is stylish but distances the audience from much of the action, doesn't help.

But Shinn is far better writer than he at first seems - at his best, gentle, suggestive and witty. As the play progresses, more interesting dynamics begin to appear: Shed fights to move out of dealing, Stephen's inchoate social conscience is more sharply tested. As Shinn movingly shows the many reverberations of September 11, a meditation on - even a tribute to - the meaning of the neighbourhood emerges in a delicately observed fabric of reciprocal distrust and generosity, where charity and self-reliance compete in unexpected ways.

Thanks to Emily for submitting and typing up this review.