“you are never sure of who is the villain, and that, is absolutely chilling”
Picture the scene – a young couple with hopes and dreams of their future. The countryside, the house, the family and that white picket fence. Idyllic, don’t you think?
Tim Cook’s excellent work allows the audience to be mesmerised by the journey of the characters. From the opening scene where they reminisce about how they met in their school days, you feel as though you have known them for years. Perhaps they were your friends, that annoying boy at the back of the classroom, the chatty girl sitting at the front. So ultimately, you want them to succeed and build their happy life together. But what happens when something arrives to shatter the illusion?
Adam (Christopher Adams) an English teacher and Eve (Jeannie Dickinson) have their lives turned upside down when one of Adam’s students Nikki (Anuschka Rapp) makes allegations that he has acted inappropriately.
Eve stands by her husband but is she doing the right thing? We are torn between wanting to believe that Adam would not sacrifice the life he has built for an idiotic fling with a teenager and yet the narrative is telling us otherwise.
The quality of the acting in this performance means that you are never sure of who is the villain, and that, is absolutely chilling. The set is minimal yet effective, consisting of a small number of crates intending to portray a living room, classroom and the most effective – the supermarket where Adam and Eve will later run into Nikki who is an employee. Quite possibly the most awkward situation imaginable.
The play is a brilliant insight into the complexities of a relationship addled with doubt and accusation. It challenges the trust between our main characters; it asks the question that even though they have been together for a long time, do they really know everything about each other? After all that time, can someone still surprise you? Can they shock you?
Reviewed by Stephanie Legg
ADAM & EVE
is at The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre until 2nd September
