'Hit Machine' review — Josh Radnor and Noah Galvin brilliantly battle over music and their shared past

Read our review of Jonathan Caren's new play Hit Machine, now in performances at the Soho Theatre to 15 August.

Summary

• Jonathan Caren's new play Hit Machine comes to Soho Theatre
• It focuses on two musician brothers grappling with their traumatic past
• Josh Radnor and Noah Galvin create an effectively contrasting pair
• Original music is brilliantly used to express emotion

Is there a formula for making a hit record? Can you learn it? And what do you have to sacrifice to turn your life into a success? These ideas sit at the heart of Jonathan Caren's new play Hit Machine, which follows the reunion of two estranged brothers as they bicker and battle over music and confront the ghosts of their past.

Older brother Wes is now the hotshot owner of a recording studio, seemingly living the life he's always dreamed of. He has a gated home lined with mirrored walls, bottled sparkling water always at the ready, and a roster featuring some of the biggest artists in the world. But when his younger brother Alex unexpectedly bursts back into his carefully fortified life, the glossy façade begins to crack. Is it really normal to unravel after two years without a hit record? And why is he so determined to turn a blind eye to his mother's financial struggles?

The answers, of course, lie in the brothers' shared history. They grew up with an abusive father in a home that never felt safe. Wes has spent years trying to bury those memories, but Alex, still chasing a record deal of his own, arrives desperate to reconnect with the happier fragments of their childhood: writing songs together, making music, and going on sibling camping trips. Even all these years later, he idolises his big brother and craves his approval. But, as old wounds resurface, their sharply different ways of coping push them into collision.

Caren's script is a slow burn, with naturalistic dialogue letting key facts emerge in droplets rather than all at once. Josh Radnor, best known for How I Met Your Mother, builds Wes's ice-cool armour, with his unwavering need to stay on top peeking through. Meanwhile, Noah Galvin's Alex is fast-talking and boyish, with an almost puppylike eagerness to keep his brother’s attention. Together, they squabble like children, reverting to shadows of their younger selves.

It is a play that explores the myriad ways people can be shaped by the same traumatic experience. Throughout it all, music is the force that helps make sense of things. With Ben Harper, CJ Harper and Khalil Madovi providing the songs, there are some genuine hits here, but beyond the finished product, the script also examines the mechanics of creation. Wes's newest artist, Defy The Leader (also played by Madovi), finds himself pulled in opposing artistic directions until he hears one of Alex's beats and the lyrics begin to flow. Following his brother's advice, Alex spends night and day refining his sound. Wes, however, has long since left songwriting behind and can now only point out the flaws in other people's tracks. Music, here, is a language that expresses emotions when words get stuck.

Directed by Daniel Bailey, the music industry is laid out loud and clear, with the night ending in a concert-style performance by Defy that gets the audience rapping along. After we’ve seen the hard work and emotional struggles it takes to get to the finished track, hearing it feels like a sigh of relief.

Hit Machine is at the Soho Theatre to 15 August. Book Hit Machine tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Hit Machine (Photos by Bautista Araya)