Paratroopers Review

In the case of Paratroopers, which enjoyed a two-night run at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town over the weekend, that place is Cackby – a fictional, post-industrial town in Northern England.

The town’s much-loved and long-standing member of parliament has sadly passed away and party members. who are excellently played by the audience, have gathered at North Cackby Community Arts Centre to choose his successor.

Meet Connor Banks (Daniel Patten) and Mackenzie Steele (Jack Medlin) who went to school and university together and now happen to be the only “high-quality” candidates in the running. 

The “absurdist comedy satire” is inspired by people and events drawn from existing Labour Party scandals. If you’re more politically astute than I am, the niche references and comedy will be far less lost on you than it was on me, but what I can say is striking a happy medium between intellectualism and physical comedy is no small feat and something which Patten and his fellow writer, Sol Alberman, managed to do it in a way which felt natural rather than forced and there were some genuinely, really funny moments which had the audience in stitches.

However, the way in which Patten and Medlin utilised the stage was what impressed me the most. From squeezing into the tightly packed audience, practising Tai Chi and eating Indian takeaway in their living room, it felt believable thanks to the simple yet effective set.