Fantastic characterisation is at the heart of Annie Baker's The Aliens starring Ralph Little and Mackenzie Crook.
Rarely is there an actor so infinitely comfortable on stage as Ralph Little playing stoner KJ in Annie Baker's The Aliens, currently at Bush Theatre. Almost unrecognisable in dreadlocks and bandanna, Little lounges opposite Mackenzie Crook's Jasper, drinking 'shroom tea as one half of the duo that form the anti-American Dream team.
With 2.4 children decidedly not on their agendas, KJ and Jasper spend their time by the bins behind a coffee shop in Vermont where they meet 17-year-old Evan, or rather he stumbles across them. Played with charming awkwardness by Olly Alexander, Evan has a set time for dinner and Jewish Music Camp to think about, and though wary of KJ and Jasper, they provide the antithesis to his world and slowly imbue him with an unfamiliar confidence.
The play text warns us that one third of this play is silent, and it's true, but we hardly feel it. KJ and Jasper are slow but articulate in their excessive introspection and theorising, and despite their peculiarities, in the capable hands of Little and Crook, we listen intently to every word.
The silence is as essential as the American fillers we, like, love to hate, man. And so are KJ and Jasper's questions: does the government own wind farms? And why do people practice lighting fireworks? If Baker's point here is to make us feel an empathy for the on-stage stoners that we would rarely have in real life, then she succeeds without a doubt.
She keeps The Aliens uncomplicated, emphasises their many layers and their significance not only to each other but to the rest of us. But, as we listen to Little sing his abstract songs about Maths and Philosophy and watch Crook appreciate a home-made brownie, we know there are bigger consequences of the existence of these characters, and these are under-explored.
Annie Baker's play feels fresh and is at odds with the increasingly fast-paced theatre that abounds in London. Subtly and slowly, through clever observations and affable but lost characters, she makes a clear point about the ways we affect each other. Evan is unlikely to become anything like KJ and Jasper, but he's richer for knowing them.
The Aliens runs at Bush Theatre until October 16th
Image: Simon Annand
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