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Consumed Review: Four Generations, One Explosive Family Drama

  • London Theatre Doc
  • 3 days ago
  • 2 min read
ree

★★★★★


As a young student at Edinburgh University, I always wished I could see a production at Traverse Theatre. I could never afford it back in the late noughties and early 2010s. Now in 2025, returning as a critic, I finally stepped through its doors and what a fantastic first visit it turned out to be.


Consumed, written by Karis Kelly, tells the story of four women, four generations of the same family meeting in Bangor to celebrate their matriarch Eileen’s birthday. What begins as a tense family gathering quickly unravels into a study of overbearing mothers, inherited trauma and long suppressed secrets. The writing is witty, tightly crafted and emotionally raw.


As the great grandmother Eileen, Julia Dearden is outstanding. Her dry wit, foul mouth and simmering rage at the world bring pure comedic joy. Every jab and jest is scene stealing, with lines like “I did so many situps it made my coccyx raw” and “I don’t like soup, it’s too wet” delivered with delicious bite. Andrea Irvine gives a chilling performance as grandmother Gilly, whose manic obsession with maintaining the illusion of a perfect home is both comic and disturbing. Her fraught relationship with her daughter Jenny (Caoimhe Farren) crackles with tension, Farren giving a performance that feels both angry and deeply vulnerable. Finally, Muireann Ní Fhaogáin captures all the awkward humour of Gen Z great granddaughter Muireann, balancing cringe with charm.


The direction is simple but striking. The kitchen set begins as a warm family hub, but gradually deteriorates: lights flicker whenever absent men are mentioned, hinting at fractures beneath the surface, and as relationships collapse, so too does the house itself, until the earth below is exposed. The ending takes an abstract turn which, while emotionally effective, does not land with the same clarity or tonal cohesion as the rest of the piece.


Overall, Consumed is a compelling portrait of family relationships and the toll of inherited pain. It balances dark comedy with genuine heartbreak, and left me both laughing and quietly unsettled. A darkly beautiful production that deserves to be seen again.

Show - Consumed

Venue - Traverse Theatre

Dates - Until 24th August

Times vary

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