Most Favoured
Bang and Whimper
Most Favoured
by David Ireland
19th Street Productions and María Inés Olmedo Projects at The Soho Theatre Theatre, Soho until 24thJanuary 2026
Review by Harry Zimmerman
Most Favoured is a relatively succinct production, (45 minutes long) with an intriguing seasonal premise.
In a cheap and cheerful hotel room, with dishevelled bedding and clothing strewn over the headboard and across the floor, we encounter Glaswegian Mary and American Michael after a rather torrid one-night stand during The Edinburgh Festival.
Both characters are ecstatic, but for different reasons. Mary is on a high from having had the best sex of her life. Michael’s satisfaction manifests itself in a very different way. His euphoria is a result not of the physical events of the night before, but his rapturous appreciation of a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which he has never experienced before, despite being American.
So, equally orgasmic stuff for both Mary and Michael. It is just that their explosions of satisfaction, while simultaneously expressed, are not for the same thing. Herein lies the basis of the dichotomy at the heart of this tale. Mary has something that she needs to tell Michael, something she has been hiding from him; yet as things progress and her admission comes to light, it transpires that Michael has quite a revelation of his own ….
In the appropriate intimate atmosphere of The Soho Theatre, the audience observe the post coital collision of two very different personalities, both with a secret, an encounter which results in a sparky, lively discussion about faith, loneliness, identity, connection and what lies beneath, all conducted in a pressure cooker atmosphere of intimacy, regret, hope and rather awkward logistics.
This is quite a lot to unpack in a 45-minute production and is utterly dependent for its success upon the believability of the characters and the contrast inherent in their developing relationship.
Here we are in safe hands. Lauren Lyle gives us a mid-30’s Glaswegian Mary who is alternately defensive and effusive, sharp but warm, fiercely independent yet with a streak of vulnerability which manifests itself in her touching remark that during the previous night with Michael, “For the first time in my life I felt love…the closest I have ever come to feeling love”.
Alexander Arnold’s Michael is initially so engagingly laid back as to be almost horizontal, contentedly and nonchalantly detached from any sense of ambition, drive or urgency, and garnering many laughs with his orgasmic reaction to his devouring of his bucket of KFC. Later, his own revelation sees him deliver an earnestness and absolute belief in himself and his actions that hints at a steeliness lying beneath his easy-going nature.
Both characterisations, the voluble oversharing Mary and the grounded taciturn Michael, operate as effective foils for the other, as their rapid-fire exchanges are leavened by powerful periods of silence, (Lyle’s facial expressions expertly charting hope, betrayal and hurt with dexterity). Their curious but beguiling chemistry helps the narrative bubble along.
Mary’s reveal, signalled throughout the play, is that she is sleeping with as many men as possible in an attempt to become pregnant before her biological clock stops. Michael’s secret is more surprising, although there are a number of clues scattered throughout the action as to the direction of the play and the final twist, whether that be Michael’s ignorance before now of Kentucky Fried Chicken or the deftly chosen names of the protagonists.
Most Favoured is a concise and tightly structured three quarters of an hour of theatre. The relative brevity of the piece means that the plot cannot deviate too much from its central core, or indulge itself in a slow, measured narrative build. We are given, essentially, a single plot device, an extended sketch, with one major twist. The importance here is what the cast make of it, and how it is delivered.
On the whole, it succeeds. The production avoids unnecessary embellishment. Blocking is simple, the rhythmical structure of the piece is solid and well-paced. There is not a line is lost or expression wasted. There are a nicely timed one-liners and, overall, this production has its tongue firmly set in its cheek.
To use the leitmotif of the play one more time; like Michael’s KFC, whilst the audience may not be left overly hungry for more after they have finished it, they will be glad that they experienced it.
Harry Zimmerman, December 2025
Photography by Danny Kaan
Mark Aspen 