In a series of short scenes, we're exposed to what happens when women are met with male violence - whether on a casual date or as part of a short-or-long-term relationship. Kate Skinner has the marathon part of the one woman at the centre of all these relationships, shifting into various ages and lives and about how things can go so wrong so quickly, and how long-term buried problems can resurface again and again. Three of the four men are figures of menace, whether it be Tom Stokes as a controlling husband hiding his brutality under a middle-class veneer, Anthony Yangoyan as a wannabe footballer taking his frustrations out on his partner, or Sam Alhaje as the guy who just took a mate's night out too far. Jason Chong is to a certain extent the eyes and ears of the play as the one who interacts with everybody as a counselor with his own home complications, seeing the issues outside his house maybe have a reflection in his own relationship as well. Blazey Best directs a production that rides the complex transitions that Steve Roger's writing sets up, giving us snapshots of a situation that's all too familiar but feels fresh and, alas, eternally relevant.
There's sharp work from Isabel Hudson's simple set design, together with costumes that allow the men to be separately identified very quickly, and assists Skinner with her many character transitions.
This is important, relevant theatre that's played expertly and is absolutely necessary viewing, both for the subject matter and the skill of the performers and production crew.
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