Two actors lead The Watch with precision and restraint

A stripped-back production where silence, stillness, and tension do all the talking.

Ciana Howlin (Hannah) and Kate Crisp (Zoe) in The Watch at The Glitch Theatre. Photo credit: Jake Bush

Last night I saw The Watch at The Glitch in Waterloo. It’s a quiet play. No big twists, no grand gestures. But it knows exactly what it’s doing. It sits with you, carefully, slowly, and then starts to dig.

Written by Isabella Waldron and directed by Merle Wheldon, this is a two-person piece about Hannah, a woman who can’t sleep, and Zoe, a clockmaker who lives in her own kind of silence. It’s about connection, time, memory, and the way we get close to people without really knowing how.

Ciana Howlin as Hannah completely pulls you in. She’s sharp, messy, vulnerable. Everything she does feels honest. You watch her carry so much just under the surface, and that tension becomes the whole shape of the play. Opposite her is Kate Crisp as Zoe, who is quieter, more held back, but equally strong. There’s something powerful in how still she is. Together they have this strange, gentle energy that holds the piece from start to finish.

The writing starts slow. At first I wasn’t sure where it was going. But by the second half, it found its weight. It builds carefully, with a lot of trust in the actors. And that mostly pays off. The only thing that didn’t fully land for me was the ending. It came too quickly. Just as it felt like the play was really arriving, it stopped. I left wanting more, but not in a satisfying way. It felt like the final beat was missing.

I also think some of the themes could have gone deeper. There’s a lot there, queerness, insomnia, isolation, but sometimes it all felt too light, like the play hinted at things without fully exploring them.

I wanted a bit more risk, a moment that broke the pattern. Something unexpected. Even with that, the performances are what make this piece worth watching. The direction gives them space to breathe. The design is simple and focused. Everything feels considered.

I’m giving The Watch 4.2 stars. It leaves questions behind, and that’s where its strength lies. It doesn’t try to finish the conversation, just starts it well enough that you want to keep thinking.