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REVIEW | The Watch, The Glitch - London
- Harry Brogan
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
AD | Tickets gifted in exchange of an honest review
Isabella Waldron’s new play The Watch is currently playing in the intimate basement of The Glitch in Waterloo. With just a few of chairs for the audience and a minimalist set of little tables around the stage filled with coffee pots, wine bottles, and broken watches, this small space becomes the perfect home for a sweet, quietly magical tale of young love and self-discovery.
Ciana Howlin plays the role of Hannah, queer barista who struggles with chronic insomnia. She launches into a monologue which spans effortlessly between the awkwardness of online dating as a newly out queer person, tales of annoying customers at her job, her shaky relationship with her family and most pressingly her inability to sleep.
When Hannah brings a malfunctioning watch, passed down from her grandfather, to a local repair shop, she meets Zoe (played by Kate Crisp), a mysterious clockmaker. Their connection is instant and during yet another sleepless night spent swiping through Hinge, Hannah matches with Zoe and they set up a date where they get to know each other. Zoe opens up about her identity and her accepting family, while Hannah confesses she’s just recently figured out her identity and that coming out has caused great ripples in her family life. The date ends abruptly when Zoe excuses herself early, not out of disinterest, but because she keeps an unusual sleep schedule.
Eventually, when Hannah ends up at Zoe’s place, the truth is revealed. Zoe practices a forgotten medieval sleeping pattern called “two sleeps”, sleeping early in the evening and again in the early morning, with a long, wakeful stretch of time in between. She calls these hours “The Watch”, a time that feels suspended from the world outside the bedroom and from reality itself, a private space where anything can be done and achieved.
Directed by Merle Wheldon, with Lighting Design by Jack Hathaway who masters the use of colourful lights switching from day, night and dream like sequences, which makes the set design by Isabella Sarmiento Abadia feel much wider than The Glitch allows.
Ciana Howlin’s performance as Hannah is the heart and soul of the show. Howlin is natural, approachable and likeable: it’s like catching up with an old friend. Howlin's comedic timing is impeccable, every glance to the audience feels personal, choosing moments to connect with individual audience members in a way that feels very spontaneous.
Kate Crisp creates a dainty and fairy-like Zoe, which creates a captivating effect as Crisp finally begins to reveal herself, it’s like watching a secret slowly get revealed.
The Watch is funny, tender, and quietly profound. Waldron’s writing is modern, funny but also poetic, full of small insights that linger. In just 60 swift minutes, the play fully immerses you in Hannah’s world, inviting you to follow her as she navigates the beauty of human connection. It leaves you reflecting on the complexity of identity, love, and what it means to find your place in the quiet hours of the night.
★★★★★
The Watch is playing at The Glitch in Waterloo, London until the 9th June
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