Writer: Annie Baker
Director: Emma Cornford
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Starts Slow, Gets Good“
3 / 5
A small town in Vermont is the meeting point for Marty’s newly crafted, creative drama class. It’s a small group of 5 that meet each week, honing their acting skills and building connections with each other, despite being an unlikely bunch.
Running the class is Marty (Sangita Modgil) who has seemingly pulled the majority of her workshop out of an acting for dummies manual – trudging through various activities but, much to 16 year old Lauren’s (Cerys McLaren) frustrations, never actually doing any “proper acting”. Marty’s husband James (Alan Maddrell) comes along for moral support, allowing him some respite away from problems he’s enduring with his estranged daughter. Theresa (Siobhán Callaghan) is young, enthusiastic and catches male attention wherever she goes, this class being no different, with Schultz (Cameron Jones) constantly doting over her, and hoping to soothe his wounds from a recent divorce, by possibly sparking up a new romance with her. They’re an interesting bunch who, over the course of the 6 week class, get to know each other better – and in some cases, maybe slightly too well.
Annie Baker’s script is a conflicting one because it starts off extremely, frustratingly slow, and takes a while to properly get going, but when it’s good, it’s very good. The characters are brilliantly crafted, their interactions packed with both simmering tension and awkward humour. They make great use of the many uncomfortable silences by ensuring the cast are constantly engaging, their facial expressions and movement replacing dialogue to create painfully awkward, yet deeply revealing moments. The first act doesn’t pull this off as successfully as the second – much of the introduction to the characters, are through banal, excruciatingly long, boring exercises, such as memory games or counting to 10. While they realistically convey the content of a community theatre class, theres too much time spent on it, making the scenes become tedious and overdone.
There are still some great moments in act one though – Schultz and Theresa’s awkward flirtation and Lauren’s peppy, teenage uninterest being the pull that makes you still intrigued enough to come back after the interval. And, if you do, the second act is much stronger – containing less dull introduction exercises now that they’re all acquainted, and focusing more on the characters themselves. Though exercises are still present, they’re a lot more engaging – one encouraging the group to reveal an unsaid secret sparks off an excitingly intense scene where every character is put under the spotlight, another show them re-enacting conversations that really help to delve into their mindset and feelings. This helps the audience engage much more with the storyline at hand, and connect with the characters both as a group and individually.
The cast do a fantastic job of ensuring they are constantly in character at all times – whether it’s a subtle eye roll from McLaren, or a brief glimmer of enthusiasm from Jones, every gesture is completely engaging to watch, and adds an enjoyable layer of authenticity and realism to their performances. An interesting show, that may resonate more if you’ve been part of a drama class yourself, but that still captures you in the second act with it’s quiet unfolding relationships and intricate explorations into each character’s psyche.
Runs until 18th July 2026
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