ONE JAB CURES ALL
Theatre at the Tabard
★★★★
“a wonderful antidote to the long winter nights”
It’s the ultimate medical breakthrough. Two scientists have discovered the ‘Wonder Jab’; the universal cure for everything. Although on the surface they look and behave as though they can’t tell a test tube from a jam jar. The whole thing looks rather dodgy. Dr Max (Rob Pomfret) and his ice-maiden boss, Dr Judy (Sophie Mackall), are holed up in what looks like an under-funded basement laboratory. Alice Carroll’s stark set suggests covert, subterranean mischief where oxygen and ethics are thin on the ground.
Instead, though, the air is thick with satire and chaotic humour in Lloyd Evans’ new play, “One Jab Cures All”. Max and Judy are on the cusp of fame and are grappling with what it all means – for themselves and for the world. We don’t know how they discovered this miracle cure. But then again, neither do they. What we do know is that they intend to administer it via chocolate mini-rolls and cake (watch out for the Victoria sponge that triggers all sorts of shenanigans like Chekhov’s Gun). A press conference is imminent, but the couple are at loggerheads about how to tell their story to the world; even though it has already been leaked by the Russians, who apparently funded and under-tested the research.
Judy sees dollar signs and wants to privately sell it to the rich and powerful elite – the billionaires and the illuminati. Max, on the other hand, wants it to be distributed, free, for everyone. If they keep it a secret, they’ll make millions of pounds. If they share it, they’ll save millions of lives. It is a global contradiction, played out in a tiny space. Director Matthew Parker skilfully steers his cast around the confines of the stage, blending well the slapstick with the biting dialogue. Like the protagonists who mix their chemicals with gay abandon, the result is unpredictable, if not quite explosive. Into the mix wander Max’s teenage daughter Felicity (Lauren Whitehill) and junior researcher Vic (Jay Warn). Loyalties are ripped apart. Felicity and Vic are pulled together while Judy and Max are polar opposites. Attraction and repulsion are equal forces here, and the messy magnetism of the performances draw us in.
There is a heightened theatricality to the characters that, because of their many layers, avoids caricature. Each cast member captures their inconsistencies with a natural understanding of the humour and absurdity of the human condition. Pomfret is the humanitarian with loose morals, a devoted single dad who likes to keep the babysitter warm on winter nights. Judy is a hard nut who melts under flattery, and Mackall nimbly presents vanity as vulnerability. Like all, she is just looking for love. Warn’s Vic is quirky and nerdy but loveably real while Whitehill is a ball of innocent, scatty and funny energy.
In lockdown, many people were, understandably, concerned about the speed with which the vaccines were rolled out. An over explored and over discussed premise, but Evans mirrors the theme with originality and freshness. There is a fair amount of meandering into subplots and shoe-horned subtexts. Lengthy discussions about family, marriage, love and ageing, for example, sludge the narrative in places and the intermittent lack of focus detracts from the main thread. Yet the gentle zigzagging does lead to some finely executed twists. A little less clunkiness in the physical comedy would get us there with fewer stumbles on the journey.
“One Jab Cures All” is a wonderful antidote to the long winter nights. An eccentric tale of medicine, money, morals and miracles. It goes down with more than a spoonful of sugar and the only side effects that you need to worry about are a few extra laughter lines.
ONE JAB CURES ALL
Theatre at the Tabard
Reviewed on 15th January 2026
by Jonathan Evans
Photography by Lidia Crisafulli
