Little Brother Review – Award-Winning Captivating Portrayal of Siblings in Distress | stage

IIt’s midnight in Belfast. Niall feels very sad and calls his sister Brigid in an attempt to stop his suffering and slow his racing mind. Their conversation is surprisingly funny as Brigid, who keeps whispering to someone in the bed next to her, tries to calm her brother down. The dialogue is filled with affection, frustration, fear and sadness, as well as electric tension as we wait for Niall – clearly about to do something absolutely terrible – to make his decision.

This is just the opening scene of Eoin McAndrew’s lively new play. Winner of the 2024 Verity Bargate Award, it is very difficult to categorize but very easy to admire and enjoy. As Niall tries to recover from his breakdown, the play initially verges on satire. Confronted by a barrage of ridiculous advice, Brigid (Katherine Rees) tries to protect her brother – who has just set himself on fire – from further self-harm. McAndrew suggests that hiding the candles away probably won’t solve this.

In Emma Jordan’s assured production, the satirical sections are supported by prickly comedic performances from Laura dos Santos (as a doctor and counselor) and Conor O’Donnell (as Brigid’s increasingly marginalized and sullen friend). McAndrew’s writing brims with anger toward a care system that is more broken than the groups of people who need help. However, although funny and pointed, these scenes clash slightly with the more subtle and effective domestic scenes between Brigid, her boyfriend, and her brother.

Recent graduate Cormac McAlinden is captivating as Niall, a compelling mix of emotions – corrosively disturbed but also capable of silliness, tenderness, pettiness and joy. In one memorable scene, McAlinden scratches himself, scratches the floor, gets angry and bounces off the walls of Zoe Horowitz’s stunning set, a series of interlocking white cubes, empty and constricting. The collection’s surroundings pulsate and glow, revealing a series of tubes – the inner workings of a turbulent city, a turbulent body and a turbulent mind.

At the Soho Theatre, London, until 22 November