REVIEW: JAB by James McDermott at Finborough Theatre, 20 February - 16 March 2024

‘like caged animals in a tight space’ ★★★★ ½

From the moment Anne (Kacey Ainsworth) and Don (Liam Tobin) dance onto the stage jiving to the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams, you know that this is going to be interesting. They dance and we laugh at their free-style moves and wiggles, their easy attraction to each other. But the dancing ends and we enter into a time capsule.

This piece powerfully conveys and reminds us of the not-so-distant past from innocence to jokes about Barnard Castle to counting deaths in tens of thousands and paying the price for poor decision-making. Anne and Don have been married for 29 years, and they have raised two boys and Anne works for the NHS and supports Don’s hobby of a vintage shop. But through tight scenes, just some stares and glares, we start to observe the fractures. It starts small, like deciding to watch Emmerdale vs The Durrells. But it starts to take a more serious slant.

In a breezy 75 minutes, James McDermott reminds us of our own experiences during lockdowns and what we took away from that time - as well as what we lost. The dialogue is crisp. With excellent acting, both performers make you forget you are watching a performance but feels rather like caged animals in a tight space. Fractures in their relationship start to show and things really get dark, with arising animosity mingled with tenderness and regret.

The staging begins with four chairs in a row facing the audience to start; these are moved around the space strategically, with props placed in pockets on their sides. Lighting is powerfully wielded to change scenes at a blink but also to give a sense of the downward spiral of the relationship. The music is transfixing and brings us into the place and the time when the couple were young and starting out their relationship, but also leads us into ominous turns.

JAB is a clever title with the obvious meaning of getting a vaccination but also to poke roughly with something sharp. The sharpness of this piece in how deftly it reminds us of things we would rather not remember… but should.

Photographer: Steve Gregson

JAB by James McDermott at Finborough Theatre, 20 February - 16 March 2024

Box Office https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/jab/

Performed by Kacey Ainsworth, Liam Tobin

Directed by Scott Le Crass

Set and Costume Designer: Leah Kelly

Lighting Designer: Jodie Underwood

Composer: Adam Langston

Reviewed by Mariam Mathew