Wish List review, Royal Court Upstairs

Wish List is a play about teenagers fighting for survival. Since the death of their mother, Dean has been housebound by ritualised behaviours centred on his hair and on tapping routines. His sister, Tamsin, feeds him plain rice while struggling with his Job Centre paperwork and seeking ways to mitigate their poverty. Work in an Amazon-type warehouse offers a low pay solution, but it is her only solution. She fights for a place on the production line where the workforce is dehumanised by dystopian target-setting - the targets increase whenever you're close.

Wish List is bleak but it's draws you in. Moments of possibility are offered by Tamsin's sunny teen co-worker, Luke, and there's an uproarious scene where Tamsin reenacts Meatloaf. There are also moments involving Dean - who is losing his benefits because he has masked his breakdown - that were so tense the audience yelped and gasped. Wish List is a window onto the many thousands of unsupported young people who fall through the net each year.

A lot of critics, and the play's blurb, draw out writer Katherine Soper's evocation of warehouse culture - the exploitation of young people to meet the demands of consumers wanting instant delivery of sex aids, DVDs, and shower gel. In truth, production lines have always been brutalising and low paid whether it's sorting biscuits, sewing donkey jackets, or assembling fridge parts. In Wish List it's a vehicle for seeing that world through the eyes of teenagers trying to imagine their futures. For Luke, the warehouse is a stop-gap before an apprenticeship, but for clever Tamsin whose world is so small and stressful she can barely function, the terrifying fear is that this is the rest of her life.

In conclusion: Matthew Xia's production is tense and challenging. Joseph Quinn is touching as Dean and Shaquille Ali-Yebuah is a heart-warming Luke.  Erin Doherty as Tamsin is unforgettable. She is moving, funny, heartbreaking. Full marks too to Ana Ines Jabares Pita for a simple and very clever set that impressively and convincingly evokes warehouse life.


Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW1.  Run ends February 11

Picture: Alastair Muir from the Daily Telegraph website