A Night on the Tiles

Director Sophie Kelly gives us an aesthetically pleasing, large open set design, that while practically is an unbelievably large bathroom, serves the show well. Charlotte Ismay’s lighting is emotive and provides some intimacy within the large space, with effective sound design from Pip Hunter (although I wondered why we could hear a toilet flushing, but not water running when hands were washed).

I’m going to state the obvious, but all but one of these actors are far too young for their roles. While the director states that this play allows the cast to “demonstrate our perspective as young people on adulthood and the way relationships shift as we get older”, I couldn’t fight the desire to see this show with a more age-appropriate cast.

Central character Jess, dating a married man and celebrating birthdays without him, is played nicely by Catherine Jones, who tries hard to convey the loss of a woman who has sacrificed her youth to a man who refuses to prioritise her needs. This is a performance with maturity and perspective. The audience bonds most with Daisy Higham as Karen, who like her best friend has a huge journey throughout the play. Daisy shows great depth and acts the role very well. Livvy Clark, as well as being about twenty years too young for her role, is also physically unmatched, petite, playing a woman who rocks her curves. Lovely to see a performer really relishing her role and showing expert timing as she drops grenades into conversations to watch the devastation. Emily Cunningham, playing within her age range, is lovely and is convincing as party girl turned depressed young mum.

The men struggled more to convey the maturity of their roles. Jake Zito makes a valiant attempt and has some impressive nuance and warmth as the older man with a younger partner. Jack Zaninovich as Mark and Doug Norris as Geoff clearly have ability, but both walk like twenty-year-olds and can’t quite muster gravitas or age.

Solid direction, some strong performances and a funny script make this a show worth seeing, and this welcoming young company as usual are a pleasure to watch.

Kimberley Shaw