Something to do with Bolivian Affairs – Review
SUTCo’s Something to do with Bolivian Affairs is a brilliant representation of the exponential diminishment of ground-breaking world affairs when personal relationships get in the way. The play opened in Ella and Joseph Lang’s living room and, instantly, the political context of the threatening war in South America was introduced. Mere seconds later we were catapulted back down to earth, or at least the Lang’s British, upper-class home where Ella is preparing for her husband’s surprise 33rd birthday party. This sharp juxtaposition of personal and political is a theme throughout the play, with the political constantly threatening to bleed into the personal, yet never quite managing to.
Matthew Heppel’s writing provides moments of comic relief which reinforce the insignificance of the fractured friendships and marriages that play out on the stage. My favourite line was ‘we are never, ever, ever, getting back together’ which was very clearly a Taylor Swift reference that received a good laugh from the audience.
The standard of acting was high throughout the performance, and I appreciated the effort that the actors had clearly put into mastering a very obviously ‘posh’ accent as this really enhanced the play’s comedic value. Eden Houlberg’s performance as Jane Myers particularly stood out to me. She handled her character very well and I couldn’t help but notice that she was constantly reacting to everything that was happening on stage. This strengthened her performance and gave the audience a great insight into Jane’s personality.
I thought that violence was handled really well in the play. Along with the rest of the audience, I found Miles Myers (Toma Hoffman) and Joseph Lang’s (Luke Hookham) fight highly entertaining. This was largely due to the use of very over-the-top violence that was almost slapstick. It was especially funny when Joseph was “dart-boarded” and Miles was “chaired”. By choosing to use violence in this way, the cast and crew successfully contrasted the play’s main storylines with the background political context, whilst also showing just how futile violence is in practically all situations.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my evening seeing Something to do with Bolivian Affairs. It made me question how much the political should affect the personal, as well as how much it does in reality. I’d really recommend going to see it at the University Drama Studio either tonight or tomorrow, it’s a play that has a very promising future ahead of it.
Something to do with Bolivian Affairs is running to 1st November 2025, student tickets cost £6, here is the link to book tickets: SUTCo’s Something to do with Bolivian Affairs
Rating: ★★★★
