The Constant Cold is a new piece of writing by Zoe Cooper. It tells of 3 housemates and their reactions when one of them, Megan, returns home certain that she has been followed. With Lalya trying to support her and Ethan dismissing her fears the night soon escalates leading to a chilling climax.

The story itself is an intriguing one but due to the short running time (25 minutes) it feels like as soon as moments begin to get interesting they are rushed through. The short running time also has an impact on the character development and all of them are presented as rather 2 dimensional. Ethan comes across as toxic from the very beginning with no redeeming features and I struggled to fathom just why he Megan allowed him to live with them, especially as more of the story was revealed. Equally as we had little time to get to know Megan it was hard to feel for the state that she was in and feel any sort of vindication on her behalf when the matter escalated.

There were some important underlying themes such as gaslighting and the way that women are believed (or not) about events but again due to how the story was rushed and Ethan’s immediately dislikeable character these did not shine through as much as promised.

The cast themselves did a good job with the script. Megan herself was played by the writer Zoe Cooper and whilst the character lacked depth she did a great job at convincing me that she was in a genuine state of fear. Layla was played by Sian Marie Oliver who did a good job as a friend trying to do her best for Megan but I struggled to see the hippy side that Ethan kept on referring to. Finally Benjamin Robinson played the character of Ethan and he embraced the unpalatable aspects of the character well whilst trying to remain behind a charming veneer.

The technical side of the show was well thought through and the lighting design and effects worked well for the size of the venue and helped add layers of intrigue onto the story. Equally the set worked nicely to create a homely environment, in stark contrast to the paranormal activity that was going on throughout the show.

In the horror genre tension build up is key and this show seemed to lack this along with the character development however it was a really interesting premise and one that I would love to see developed over a longer one act play.

The Constant Cold is part of Grimfest. You can find out more about it on Baron Court Theatres website.

If you like this review you might actually like my review of Stranger Things The First Shadow, Phantom of The Opera and Born With Teeth.