★★★★✰
Quick Duck Theatre’s one-man show Yours Sincerely, starring the infectiously likeable Will Jackson, has swooped into Soho Theatre. After a debut at Birmingham Rep in 2018, stints at VAULT and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and some Covid cancellations, this solo show comes with quite the history.
Yours Sincerely takes us back to the not-so-distant past. It’s 2017 and drama graduate Will has found himself in a bit of a predicament (somewhat illegally acquiring 300 2nd class stamps) that sparks a new passion (sending as many letters as possible). Over the course of one supercharged hour, Will grabs us by the hand and hustles us into a letter-writing world. The plot is loosely strung together by a collection of correspondence, lip-syncs and caricatures—all reeled off at an extraordinary pace. We race through awkward housemate encounters, waning friendships, flimsy love affairs and job uncertainty; all the usual concerns of a twenty-something in a big city make for a rollercoaster performance.
Jackson covers a lot of ground with impressive energy, moving from light fun to deeper moments, which we are fairly forewarned of. He welcomes us personally to the show with this preface, before treating us to a lively opening number. Comedy, theaticality and camp come together right away.
Throughout, Will lets us in on the joke; he treats everyone as a close friend, rather than observers of his escapades. His natural flair and pizzazz is instantly likeable, and allows for any jokes that don’t quite hit the mark to still produce a giggle. It’s nice feeling comfortable enough to give true reactions—being ‘real’ in response to Jackson’s chummy spirit. Yours Sincerely doesn’t demand anything from its audience, and putting fun at the forefront convinced me to embrace the odd directorial choices as Will’s little quirks.
And his best “quirk” is his love of characters, which he throws himself into. A highlight is nine-year-old Sam: the persona Will adopts to write to Cadbury chocolate and John Lewis. But, perhaps, quirkiness has a limit. The silly gags and lighting effects were joyous, and the audience interaction was all fun and games… until assorted chocolates were launched in our direction and a rock-hard caramel hit me square in the forehead. So, make of that what you will! Other props also became a slight distraction. After many different shows, some tatty and torn letters could use refreshing; but, I suppose that is the struggle of a play based on paper!
Yours Sincerely certainly creates a spark. Its storytelling is a joyride worth riding along with. Jackson’s personality alone is enough to sway anyone towards enjoying the heartiest and zippiest show in town.
Yours Sincerely will be performed at Soho Theatre until 19 March.
Words by Jessica Saunders
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.