Unlikely: In A Building With A Broken Lift
18 March 2026
Barons Court Theatre
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
Unlikely: In A Building With A Broken Lift, by DippyEgg Theatre, is celebrating a short run at the Barons Court Theatre until Sunday 21 March. The madcap show incorporates surreal storytelling with clowning-adjacent elements.
Welcome to flat 17B, where a Goth is looking for a suitable flatmate. Running through a host of quirky characters, she decides on an up-beat young woman who seems to have nothing in common with her. What follows is a series of increasingly unhinged scenes of attempted bonding, bizarre dances, and dark rituals, as the two women spiral out of control.
There is a through-line of an odd framing device that breaks the fourth wall, from the beginning with one actor sitting in the audience and needing to be prompted to begin the show, to voice-over snippets that involve moments of the actors telling off the narrator, the only spoken sequences in an otherwise mostly wordless show that relies more on physical comedy and glimpses of miming.
The story of two young women finding commonalities and trying to bond at first, to breaking out in wild fights that spiral into sacrificial rituals, is an interesting one, though it is not fully realised with just a series of more or less connected dance sequences. Infused with a lot of humour and ridiculous comedy, it’s an entertaining show as much as it is bewildering.
There’s a great idea underlying this performance, though it feels unrefined and underbaked at this point in its development, not quite having found its feet yet. With big personalities and a lot of creativity, there’s definitely a plethora of potential to further evolve the show. Moments of delightful madness entertain the audience, they just feel a little unconnected at this time. What significance the broken lift plays apart from a funny workmen dance routine is not further explored either.
Unlikely is a lively performance with plenty of funny and entertaining scenes, with more work to develop it into a rounded narrative it could become a fantastic show. At this point, it feels more like a series of unconnected sketches.
