Review: Jab, Park Theatre

It has been only five years since the pandemic, but it seems as if it were much longer since Boris Johnson was Prime Minister and we were all in lockdown. This is the recent past that Jab takes us back to. Anne and Don are a working-class, empty-nest, married couple. Anne is tired of working in a failing NHS, tired of menopause and tired of her sexist layabout husband Don, who lives off her earnings and complains about her non-stop. When they are trapped home by lockdown, their marriage is strained to breaking point.

The relationship shown in Jab is abusive and controlling. Don is an ignorant, intransient, sexist pig, who doesn’t believe in vaccines. The nature of their relationship is exposed through the stress of being cooped up together, unable to leave due to lockdown. Despite Don’s awful behaviour, there are many layers to their marriage. These are uncovered as their banter goes from the gentle mocking of a long-term relationship, petty gripes and finally irreconcilable conflict. This is played out through a series of short scenes, that whilst effectively conveying time passing as the lockdown rolled on, left me wanting them to go longer to expose the characters more thoroughly.

Black comedy elevates the tone above being a kitchen sink misery drama, with plenty of witty put-downs in the couple’s arguments. The tone that writer James McDermott is aiming for – that of I, Tonya or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – is not entirely achieved. The jokes create odd tonal shifts, at times undermining the darker aspects of the drama.

Despite Don being horrible, I still felt strangely moved by where his character goes later on. However, I wanted to know more; what made them the people they are, how they got into this domestic setup, what motivates them to argue and never give an inch and why Don distrusts vaccines, other than he read something negative about them in the Daily Mail?

Don and Anne are expertly brought to life through great performances from Kacey Ainsworth and Liam Tobin. Their relationship, based on a true story, is convincing, while they add the necessary levity of black comedy; such as when Don annoys Anne by loudly eating crisps. The lighting and use of sound further convey their emotional states and add darker layers. Music is well deployed to express Anne and Don’s shared memories.

Anne and Don’s marriage is well dramatised by the strains that lockdown and arguments over vaccines create, but is limited by the lockdown setting. I really wanted to see these characters more fully explored. That said, Jab is still a convincing study of a failing relationship with complex, multi-layered, characters and strong performances.

Written by: James McDermott
Directed by: Scott Le Crass
Produced by: Sue Pomroy
Production Manager: Kevin Nolan
Stage Manager: Roel Fox
Lighting design by: Jodie Underwood
Composter and sound design by: Adam Langston

Jab plays at Park Theatre until Saturday 26 April.