Following a match on Grinder, Jack (Jacob Seelochan) returns house bleeding, bodily and sexually assaulted. Don’t Smoke In Bed offers with the aftermath, his psychological trauma and the results of it on his life and the flat he shares with Molly (Diya Vencatasawmy). Seelochan and Vencatasawmy are each efficient at instantly exhibiting us the friendship between their characters; the nice and cozy banter and the care they’ve for one another shines by in unbelievable chemistry. At first Jack places on a courageous face and downplays the assault, earlier than steadily revealing the trauma and concern he’s grappling with – Seelochan…
Rating
Good
Fantastic chemistry between two younger performers as they take care of trauma and friendship.
Following a match on Grinder, Jack (Jacob Seelochan) returns house bleeding, bodily and sexually assaulted. Don’t Smoke In Bed offers with the aftermath, his psychological trauma and the results of it on his life and the flat he shares with Molly (Diya Vencatasawmy).
Seelochan and Vencatasawmy are each efficient at instantly exhibiting us the friendship between their characters; the nice and cozy banter and the care they’ve for one another shines by in unbelievable chemistry. At first Jack places on a courageous face and downplays the assault, earlier than steadily revealing the trauma and concern he’s grappling with – Seelochan reveals this fairly skilfully, bringing us on this journey with Jack. Molly, initially supportive, serving to clear him up and letting him speak, slowly turns into overwhelmed by Jack’s withdrawal, leaving a niche between them. She reaches her restrict of understanding and assist, inflicting cracks and finally a blow-out between them. While the character of Molly is often irritating, the efficiency by Vencatasawmy is top-notch.
Harry McDonald’s script is sensible and with a number of respect for the viewers, tastefully managing so as to add humour all through whereas dealing sensitively with such a heavy subject. Subtle factors round gender disparity, akin to Jack all of the sudden discovering coping with a stage of concern which is usually a fixed for ladies. These usually are not hammered upon, moderately left for the viewers to choose up.
Director Joseph Winer retains the viewers shut and tight within the spherical, whereas Lu Herbert’s easy set invokes the lounge of a pupil flat, full with booze and books. When Jack makes use of Molly’s artwork course provides to create a illustration of his attacker, he hangs it of their flat. This offers for fairly a visible because the hole in understanding between Jack and Molly actually hangs between them, a spectre of Jack’s trauma. Charli Hurford’s lighting subtly modifications with the temper of the scene assist in transcending VAULT Festival’s Pit venue. The entire ambiance created is admirable, it doesn’t really feel like we’re sitting in a moist tunnel,
Don’t Smoke In Bed explores the themes of trauma, coping methods and friendship with thought-provoking perception. It leaves me enthusiastic about how the characters would take care of this in the long run. I can’t assist however think about an older Molly may look again with remorse about her limitations in having the ability to assist her good friend.
Written by: Harry McDonald
Directed by: Joseph Winer
Set & Costume Design by: Lu Herbert
Lighting Design by: Charli Hurford
Don’t Smoke In Bed runs till 5 February at VAULT Festival. Tickets and additional data might be discovered right here.