Top Gs Like Me follows the life, as he feels it is, of Aiden. Lost in the modern world, his best mate is heading to Uni, his mum is permanently in bed, and Aiden himself is drifting into some nefarious activities. His world is really often little more than stacking shelves in the supermarket, his scooter at his side and his mobile phone and all that entails for a youth of today. Into this world comes the mysterious Hugo Bang, who leads him somewhere new, but is this for better or for the worse?
However, if you are of a different generation and still reading, then let’s delve deeper. Primarily, this is a stunning collaboration of writer, director, cast and production crew in a show that offers both a unique theatre play and a piece truly for this generation of youngsters, a warning, so to speak.
At its core is Aiden, played by Daniel Rainford in a truly brilliant performance. Never off the stage, it is very much the driving factor of the entire play; in any other hands, the whole piece could fall apart. However, Rainford catalogues the rise, fall, and hopeful rise of Aiden’s journey in such a calculated and brilliant way that allows Top Gs Like Me to become a dazzling play.
Much of this speech is a result of a controlling factor far from the world Aiden inhabits, deep within social media, and this is where the core of this story lies. Hugo Bang, a social media influencer, is lying in wait on Aiden’s six-inch mobile screen, looking to preach his propaganda of rage and toxic masculinity. As Hugo, Danny Hatchard embodies everything wrong in the world of social media. A person who warps the mind of either the weak or the easily influenced in pursuit of social media hits. Hatchard is excellent, a warped embodiment of a human, physically created superbly, also.
The production also features a large company of performers known as the “Internet Ensemble,” which is one of many excellent, innovative aspects of the production. Realised in the production by this cast are Aiden’s world of doom-scrolling and simple, pointless social posts he wittles his life away to. Which, in turn, leads him to find the word of Hugo Bang.
Rebecca Brower’s set is key here also and falls on the side of perfection. Not just the initial impact of what strikes you in the theatre when you enter, but, indeed, how it is incorporated into Hawkins’ script by director Jesse Jones. This isn’t style over substance, all window dressing; this very much works as a space for the play to be told. Rory Beaton’s lighting design has also worked wonders in what is a difficult piece to light. However, at all times, Beaton hits the mark for the performers, adding a further visual flair to the show.
Hawkins' play can, at times, be tremendously tough viewing, as it has many strong points to make and does not shy away from them. However, for all this hard-hitting, there is also a lovely deft approach and humanity to the piece which you are left with at the end, as well as a good sprinkling of humour throughout. Presented as a single ninety-minute theatre production, this helps it maintain its momentum and pushes it to a scale difficult to surpass.
Top Gs Like Me is a brilliant piece of theatre, well-told, well-performed, and technically brilliant in every way. It is a piece very much of our time and deserves to be recognised as such and become the success it deserves.
Powerful and truly relevant to this generation, this is one of the strongest Made in Northampton plays for many years and needs to be seen.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
