It Comes in Waves

All photos by Mike Kwasniak.

Review by Clare Phillips.

Grief may seem an odd subject to base a comedy around, but playwright James McDermott has absolutely nailed the marriage of these opposites with ‘It Comes in Waves’ - currently on tour with Eastern Angles in conjunction with The Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft.

McDermott took inspiration from his own grief after losing his father during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, the setting is a Grief Cafe in Lowestoft, a town mourning the loss of its high street on a coastline that’s crumbling like Rich Tea biscuits.

After losing her hubby, ageing Crystal (Érin Geraghty: ‘Angels’; ‘Birds of a Feather’; ‘The Tales of Beatrix Potter’) wants to live, laugh, love, but maybe she just needs to chill out. Having lost her Dad, teenager Jordan (Meg Artherton: ‘Art Detectives’, ‘Acorn TV’; ‘Casualty’, BBC) just wants to, like, get grieving over and done with - but grief is messy and comes in waves right? Group leader, Howard (Ben Nealon: ‘Soldier Soldier’, ITV; ‘Eastenders’, BBC) just wants to help everyone else - but can he finally help himself and confront his own repressed grief?

The cast of just three work with a simple set portraying the familiar community venue that anyone who has been a member of any kind of local group, class or club will recognise. A clever use of screens behind them as each scene changes gives a visual reminder of the tide coming in or going out, rough or still but always there, as the cast navigate their own personal voyages of grief. Like the title of the play, these actual waves are sometimes barely noticeable and at other times feel like they will wash you overboard.

Eastern Angles has always had a strong reputation for its creative portrayal of the region’s communities, landscapes and history, and Director Jake Smith has continued that trend with this five-star production.

It’s a one act play of about 80 minutes duration. Each scene is the next session of the Grief Café, and the characters start each meeting by giving a number between one and 10 to express how they are coping with their grief that day. The three characters are all at different stages of bereavement, and Meg Atherton’s portrayal of Jordan’s raw vulnerability having lost her Dad a month earlier, and now absolutely consumed in her grief, brought a tear to my eye more than once.

Watching people cope – or perhaps not cope – after a bereavement, whether that’s on stage or in real life, is never easy. Nobody experiences grief in the same way as anybody else. Nobody can ever say for sure ‘I know exactly how you feel.’ The very personal feelings of loss and dealing with each passing day, week and month were woven brilliantly through the production by every member of the cast.

There’s very much a generational relationship between the characters too, and a sense that they are seeking more from each other than just the chance to talk about their loss.

It is worth saying that in July some of the performances will be accompanied by a series of workshops about navigating grief. And that – in real life – there is a great deal of bereavement support available, not just through peer groups like the one portrayed in this performance, but through charities including some run by the hospices serving Suffolk.

My tickets were complimentary in return for honestly reviewing this production, and I thank Eastern Angles and Suffolk on Stage for the opportunity to do so.

PS: The show went ahead at The Seckford Theatre on what had been not just the hottest day of the year, but the hottest since records began. While the foyer was fabulously air-conditioned, the main house was less so, but staff did their utmost to keep everyone cool and although the electric fire that is central to the set was probably lightbulb only, kudos to the cast as they donned coats for the bracing sea air that played such a critical role to the play’s setting.

It Comes in Waves was at Seckford Theatre on 24 June 2026.

Also showing at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds on 30 June 2026. Click HERE for details.

Also showing at Eastern Angles Centre, Ipswich on 9-10 July 2026. Click HERE for details.

For details on the full tour (which concludes on 11 July), click HERE.