A Day Out at The Flood at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

[Ad- gifted experience] Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is one of our favourite theatre venues; with a cafe, bar, stage and a very comfortable theatres, we were excited to be back again for another performance. The Flood is a really interesting concept for a theatre show; a play that takes place across 100 years, in the same location, as time changes the people and the environment around them. This showcases before and after a flood, as well as far into the future. The Flood is also based on a real life event; in 1953 there was a massive flood in the Canvey Islands, that resulted in the death of 58 people and devastated the community affected as well as destroyed many homes. On the night that we were attending, there was one cast member who had not ended up making that specific night, and instead one of the stage producers jumped in, script in hand, to fill the slot so the play could go on.

The Flood is a story of friendship and how a small town can change and grow over time. The main story was around two sets of couples and two individuals, who all started at a remembrance party. What this party is about isn’t a big part of it, and instead it’s all about the dynamic between the friends. One couple is comprised of a women who has a bubbly, outgoing personality and loves to drink and a quite, soft spoken man who enjoys the buffet more than socialising. The other couple include a women who seems to hate dancing and fun and a man who is bossy and busy with his job instead of with his wife. His older brother, who is a bit dorky and into pulling pranks is at the remembrance, and an outcast women who seems to have had a fling with. All of these characters were trapped in the concert hall, as the rain started to pour and the tide was high.

This flood was far more than each of them thought at the time, and they ended up trapped, trying to figure out what to do, if they should go out, and what needs to be done. While we were experiencing this timeline, there were moments when the music would change, the lighting became magical and mysterious, and the whole stange moved. We’d then see the same characters in the future, played by older actors. They were there for the remembrance of The Flood, an event they had now lived through. Though things were different and they reflected on how much the town had changed, they also had the same characteristics and said some of the same lines.

There was one more time period that the show kept floating too – the future. Beyond the lives of these people, to how the town ended up, how the people continued to live and move away from what was in the past. This era was interesting; some of the references were dated which didn’t make sense to us, and the actors were the same actors as in the first time period, with the same phrases and attitudes, so it took me some time to understand this was in the far future. These characters felt like they did related to the previous people in this town, showcasing how some things don’t change, some friendships don’t break, but these characters also had their own quirks, lives and stories to tell.

The Flood was a long performance, with many interesting tales woven in. Some things felt obvious from the outside looking in, so it was interesting seeing characters reveal their secrets or when twists on why things happened came out. The acting and use of the stage was wonderful in this performance. There was great stage use, with a further ramp out into the crowd, which was used as well. The play felt all around us!

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!