‘It is estimated that there are around 24 million people in the UK who participate in online gambling’, a paper waiting for us at our table reads. It includes some more statistics, plus numbers you can call if you need support, both as a gambler or as a family member/friend of a gambler. This piece of paper, and the setting we were just welcomed in – a dim, almost restaurant-like theatre space, where we are offered a small glass of prosecco or orange juice by the performers themselves on arrival – give us an insight on what we are about to see.
GAMBLE is an autobiographical multimedia theatre production about addiction and its impact on loved ones. Hannah Walker navigates her own life being in love with someone with a gambling addiction and deciding to stay and work it out with him. Throughout the show, with 2000s-vibe videos running in the background with a repertoire of mimicking songs, Walker leads us from that starting point, when casinos were seen as glamorous and cool – behind the glittery curtain of jackpots and big wins – to the discovery after their first kid together, that her husband is addicted to online gambling, through rehab, to relapses and recovery.
Hannah Walker is personal in this show. She speaks out to the audience, including everyone in different ways – like asking an audience member to read a script for her ‘So I can be in the scene!’, Hannah says – in a cabaret-style show that’s fun, sweet, and very real. Always accompanied hand to hand by Faye Alvi, a wonderful BSL interpreter who is in this show more than that, but a performer – an intrinsic part of the act and, perhaps, one of the reasons why the show stands out. This is on point and provides momentum to the otherwise slow-paced cabaret form in an interesting way.
The Performance is followed by a post-show 45-minutes discussion with Dr Matthew Garkell – a professional in the topic, Clinical Lead and Consultant Psychologist for the NHS Northern Gambling Service – where the floor opens for a Q&A. ‘Gambling has the highest rate of suicide of all addiction’, he says to a wide-eyed audience. In this talk, Hannah Walker also expands on how the show was created, starting as therapy for her and her husband, and she hopes that, by presenting it to a wide audience across the country, it can initiate meaningful conversations to help those suffering from gambling addiction. An informal coffee and a chat ‘change making’ follows each performance on the following morning for those that might benefit from further discussion and support.
GAMBLE makes a statement and delves into a topic that isn’t well explored yet in UK theatres. Inclusivity takes its much-needed space in this initiative. Though the production may benefit from some further deepening – the chosen form of cabaret too light to hold the topic at times, Hannah Walker and team take a bold step here and succeed in establishing that gambling addiction is a real, substantial, dangerous challenge.
Image credit: Andrew Moore
Review by Eva Mateos Rodriguez
Eva is an eclectic artist specialising in acting, writing and songwriting. She has been part of several performances, responses and exhibitions, and is now a student of the MA Creative Writing at Birkbeck University.
8 March – Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH/8pm | £12 macbirmingham.co.uk/| 01214463232
22 March – The Mercury Theatre, Colchester Balkerne Gate, Colchester CO1 1PT/8pm £12 mercurytheatre.co.uk/|01206573948
28 March – Exeter Phoenix, Exeter, Gandy Street, Exeter, Devon, EX4 3LS/7.30pm | £12-£10 exeterphoenix.org.uk/| 01392 667080
To learn more about the company visit thehannahwalker.com
Read our latest theatre review Women In Revolt! at Tate Britain until 7 April 2024
