Next to Nothing Productions have brought their challenging and experimental new production of Dick. to the Drayton Arms Theatre this month.
Written and directed by Adam Kinneen, Dick. focuses on the friendship between five people in their mid-twenties. So far, so ordinary, but this play is anything but.
As River, Noah, Bailey, Ruby and Cleo meet up and chat, the initial focus is on sex. Noah (Joseph Lynch) has sex with men ‘seriously’, less so with women. Ruby (Frederick Russell) is a thoughtful type; he considers the whole meeting and lead-up to intimacy with someone as ‘f*king their time’.
For Bailey (Andi Bickers), their idea of sex is to be assexual, having realised being with men does nothing for them, and with women is more about power than passion. Later, in a highly charged scene, they will dominate Ruby and Noah in a play of word and action.
Cleo (Nina Fidderman), Ruby’s sister, has an unseen beau whose most romantic gesture has been to make her a sandwich. ‘I didn’t eat it.’ As for River (Max Brennan), often positioned at the back or the periphery of the action and always clad in a variation of the same jumper, he remains unknown.
Noah is the risk-taker, the one who has the most to say. He’s slight and stylish, slightly camp. But his stories are a front for a personality that pushes away connection. As the play progresses, his voice disappears.
Dick. doesn’t let the audience into its secrets easily. These five friends don’t seem to have anywhere else to go, and as they head to the age of 26 (‘nearer to 50’), they seem to have a lot of growing up to do.
In act two, we seem to have missed a beat as one character topples into a slow decline due to drug addiction. This leads to a carefully choreographed and played silent scene between two characters, lit sympathetically (designer: Harriet White) and for four minutes, just communicating by simple touches.
Racks of clothes allow the characters to change outfits while scenes bleed into each other and overlap. It’s a brave play, raw and rough, but it feels too long and too oblique to be fully successful.
With the character of Cleo underused and Ruby, River and Noah rather enigmatic, only Bailey comes through fully-formed and confident in themselves.
If this is the future of Gen Zers, it is a bleak one, and Dick. doesn’t have the lightness of touch to bring us a sense of catharsis after the depression. Those who are close to addiction may wish to look away from this one, although the fallout is very well conveyed.
3 stars.
Dick. continues at Drayton Arms Theatre until 26 Apr – tickets here.
Image credit: Abigail Dawn