How To Kill Your Landlord **

To say there is a housing crisis in Britain is something of an understatement, with successive governments proving unwilling or unable to reverse a generationally disturbing trend. Rents have spiralled beyond affordability, especially in city centres. The tightening of lending criteria following the banking crisis, along with the inability to save for a deposit, have proven to be stubborn barriers to homeownership.

Resentment has grown, therefore, towards the wealth division, and a perception has emerged of parasitical owners subduing an entire generation. Which brings us to How To Kill Your Landlord.

Burke (Robbie Fletcher-Hill), Harriet (Frankie Weatherby), and Joq (Elijah Khan) live in a flat, seemingly at the whim of their landlord, Archie (John Gregor). The apartment appears to breach swathes of housing law. There is also the suggestion that Archie conned Joq’s grandmother out of the flat, fuelling their sense of grievance. When Archie lets himself in unannounced and verbally gives them one week’s notice to quit, they decide to murder him.

What follows is a series of absurdist, slapstick events, with a sold-out Bedlam crowd enjoying the antics.

The performers are clearly talented, with Weatherby in particular delivering a measured performance. However, the script lets them down, giving them precious little to push against. Setting aside the decades of housing law being ignored in this premise, incredulity is simply stretched too far, too often, in this production. With some rework, there is a decent piece of comedy theatre here, and the theme of generational disgruntlement is definitely ripe for exploration.