Credit: Mike Kwasniak
By Grace Hatchell
There are some plays that immediately catch your attention because of their title alone, and It Comes In Waves was one of those for me. Then I discovered it’s set in a grief café on the Suffolk coast, and suddenly I wanted to know even more.
After a sell-out tour across the East of England, Eastern Angles is bringing the production to London’s Finborough Theatre for a four-week run next spring. Better still, it’s based on playwright James McDermott’s own experiences of loss, which usually means the emotions come from a very real place.
Now, before you start thinking, “Blimey Grace, this sounds like it’ll have me reaching for the tissues before the interval,” hold your horses. One of the things that really appealed to me is that this isn’t simply a play about grief. It’s a comedy drama. Apparently, it laughs in the face of hurt, which feels wonderfully British if you ask me. We do have a habit of finding a joke, even when life decides to throw a brick through the window.
The story brings together three very different people inside a fictional grief café in Lowestoft. Crystal has lost her husband but refuses to let life stop. Teenager Jordan wants to fast-forward through the pain of losing his dad. Then there’s Howard, the group leader who’s brilliant at helping everyone except himself. It sounds like exactly the sort of characters you’ll recognise, even if you’ve never met them before.
What I particularly like is that the play doesn’t pretend grief is the same for everyone. We all carry it differently. Sometimes it’s loud, sometimes it’s quiet, sometimes it catches you completely off guard when you’re buying a loaf of bread. By exploring those different experiences, It Comes In Waves promises to be both deeply personal and surprisingly uplifting.
Eastern Angles’ Artistic Director Jake Smith says bringing the production to London is an important milestone for the company, helping stories from the East of England reach a national audience. Judging by the reviews from its original tour, London audiences are in for something rather special.
The production runs at the Finborough Theatre from 2 to 27 March 2027. Running for approximately 75 minutes with no interval, it’s recommended for audiences aged 15+ due to themes of suicide and grief.
It’s never easy to make audiences laugh and reflect in the same evening, but when theatre gets that balance right, those are often the productions that stay with you long after you’ve left the auditorium. I have a feeling It Comes In Waves might just be one of them.
https://easternangles.co.uk/event/it-comes-in-waves
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