Writer: Katherine Tempany
It’s been 15 years since Alex’s affair with Julian, who was the CEO of the company where she worked when she was just 20 years old. Reminiscing about their time together makes her wonder if the story she’s been telling all these years actually matches up to the reality of what really occurred.
Rushing into a coffee shop to meet an unseen old colleague, Alex (Zandalee Clarke) is excited to catch up and rehash the good old days. After a few pleasantries, she immediately launches into the story about her affair with Julian, a lengthy recounting of various memories, from their initial attraction to their becoming more intimate together. The structure of old friends catching up disappears fast, as the colleague has no input or reaction to anything Alex says, which makes the opening few minutes feel unnecessary as a foundation to hold the story.
The majority of the script is Alex reading out old text messages between the pair, which could work in theory, but unfortunately, the messages provided are so incredibly banal that they make the audience lose interest fast. As boringly realistic as they are, there is no substance to them, and the monotone, unchanging delivery often makes it quite confusing which text is from whom, muddying the story somewhat. The texts read out range from dull day-to-day exchanges such as “get home safe”, “thanks, home now”, “great, have a good evening” to insistent ones that imply Alex was frequently pushing for the affair, not taking no for an answer; “shall I send you a photo?” “No thanks, see you in the office”, “so you don’t want a photo? lol”, “no thanks, goodnight!”.
Alex then dissects the messages in real time. Despite her 15 years of learned experience and maturity, she still unpicks them like a teenager with a crush, spouting exclamations like “he definitely did want a photo, right?”. She flags that there is a disconnect between the texts and the reality, raising the point of hindsight and interpretation, but both her story and the evidence given seem to paint the same picture – a young girl with a crush and an older, uncaring man in power taking the opportunity to have an affair with her, having done so many times before with other women. To convincingly embed the idea of mismatched memories and power abuse, it needs to expand focus, make Alex more likeable and give the audience more substance.
Billed as a razor-sharp, darkly funny play about sex, power and memory, it unfortunately doesn’t fit the brief. Tempany’s meandering script feels improvised rather than polished and finalised, with no dark comedic aspects. Although convincing as a young 20-year-old analysing her crush, the language feels better suited if the character were still that young woman, as opposed to a 35-year-old reminiscing.
Despite the potential to explore power dynamics and illicit affairs, the play doesn’t delve deep enough, nor provide enough context, and there is no real conclusion or follow-up to any of the events that transpired 15 years ago. If there were a fallout from the affair within the office, if his wife or colleagues found out, if Alex had been scarred or changed in any way from their relationship, it isn’t shown to or established with the audience, which unfortunately makes it a struggle to connect with or empathise with the one-dimensional character and uneventful storyline.
Runs until 26th July 2026
The Reviews Hub Star Rating
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4
