Hope Has a Happy Meal (NHB Modern Plays)

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That’s because there are so many ideas and commentary woven into each scene and character, some of which contradict each other, that none shines stronger than any other. Amaka Okafor’s Lor is convincingly passionate, and the women are well supported by Nima Taleghani’s Ali and Felix Scott’s Wayne. The reveal to Hope’s backstory isn’t as interesting as the shenanigans that preceded it, and we never discover what has motivated her to come back at this particular moment.

Mary Malone is sweetness personified as Isla the new surrogate mother for her murdered sister’s son.But in the People's Republic of Koka Kola – a world of dwindling resources, corruption and corporate giants – what happens to Hope? Yet despite the infiltration of the market into everything and everywhere, Fowler argues that hope and happiness is still possible (just look at the title, which gets an ironic twist in the play’s ending).

There are some fantastical moments, including a bizarre gameshow hosted by a makeshift Ronald McDonald which doesn’t add anything, and some soap opera drama cliches are thrown into the plot (think Chekhov’s gun) which don’t feel fully earned.By the time Hope arrives at her ultimate destination with what her sister Lor describes as her “ticking time-bomb of chaotic shit”, the script is running on empty. In the process she finds not only old family but new friends, and acts of kindness and solidarity along the way.