Writer: Ellie Ward
Director: Angharad Ormond
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Strong Starting Point“
3 / 5
Chloe and Jake meet at a party and are instantly attracted to each other. Fast forward a few months, and the pair are in a relationship, loved up and living together, it seems like a picture-perfect romance, but when the rose-tinted glasses wear off, is it really as idyllic as it seems?
When Chloe (Mira Morrison) first meets Jake she’s a bubbly, confident, career driven woman. Jake (Paul Graves) is flirty, caring and attentive – his hobby as a game reviewer his main focus until he starts investing his time into Chloe and the relationship instead. Their interactions are initially endearingly relatable, and it’s only the ominous music lyrics and suggestive script that start to point towards something darker afoot. The seemingly innocent conversations quickly turn sinister – revisiting past scenes and showing them in a different light, blurring the lines between memory and reality, and showing nothing as straightforward as it may have appeared on the surface.
Considering this show is in development, it’s a strong starting point for an intriguing production that highlights coercive control and relationship power dynamics. The chemistry between Morrison and Graves is believable, and they showcase the two sides of the relationship well. Ellie Ward’s script is slight, but impactful – highlighting the issues of control delicately but clearly. The choice to use snapshot scenes of each moment in the relationship an enjoyable format to quickly progress through the relationship rather than spend too long focused on establishing the characters slowly and in too much depth. However, the transitions between each scene are done a little too frequently, with the constant fade to black killing the momentum and becoming too repetitive. It would help if either the scenes were slightly longer so that the fades felt less frequent, or if the fades could be blended into the show more seamlessly.
The soundtrack of modern pop music is also well utilised, dropping hints through the lyrics to indicate the direction the show is moving. This being said, it would benefit the show if the volume of these songs could be slightly lower, as there are points where the music overpowers the actors, and the lyrics fight against the script to be heard. The lengthy scene featuring Jake and Chloe unpacking their boxes and seemingly only owning 30 different lamps is confusing rather than intriguing, with no clear symbolism, and there is nothing (aside from the multitude of lamps) that sheds light on why they don’t own any other furniture!
There are some great techniques used by director Angharad Ormond to differentiate the show slightly and add a creative spin on some of the scenes. One of the most interesting is the shadow work that is incorporated to metaphorically show Chloe being stifled, controlled and overpowered by Jake, which is a nice addition, and executed well. Another example is when one of Jake’s vlogs is projected onto the back wall, bringing in multi-media to again elevate the production from just being a standard two-hander. It’s a solid foundation as a starting block and it will be interesting to see how this production transforms in the future.
Runs until 20th November 2024
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