Review: John, The Glitch 

Well, this is not a show for the faint hearted. To be fair, the description clearly says “Viewer discretion is advised”, and there is a big notice taped to the door as you go in with the same list of trigger warnings. Firearms and gunshots; incest; sexual assault; bestiality; transphobia; suicide, etc., etc., etc. They’re not wrong! Hearing Dizzee Rascal’s Bonkers playing loudly upon entering also gives a clue of what to expect.  

Writer and performer Anna Curiel starts as she means to go on, invading the performance area with menace whilst brandishing a rifle of some kind. In the small and cosy Glitch there is no place to hide, even if you are sitting in the back row. Her character, Jenny, then rails at the audience for an hour on a roller coaster stream of consciousness. We hear about relationships with hot ‘the-rapist’, her parents, some bloke she met on a dating app and, of course, dog John.   

Curiel owns the space with a performance full of peaks and troughs. Highly energetic chaos suddenly changes to quiet stillness which still conveys an air of menace and unpredictability. The uneven nature of the piece adds to the overall feeling of unsettling suspense, never really knowing what to expect next. It must be physically and emotionally draining performing this, I was exhausted just watching her. There is some audience interaction which is a bit confrontational, with people not really knowing whether they were supposed to react and/or reply. This led to a few moments of awkward silence which appear unplanned but do blend in with the general feeling of unease.   

As you would probably expect given the trigger warnings, the humour is very dark, sometimes surprising and certainly not at all predictable: a mix of clever and witty lines, manic characters and some things obviously for shock value. There is a constant stream of laughter from the majority, some of it a bit nervous, but a quick scan of the audience also reveal mixed reactions on faces, ranging from very decidedly not amused, disbelief and some actively looking down with hand to face.    

I once read that comedy allows the safe exploration of difficult or taboo subjects. With a running theme of mental health, the ‘difficult’ subjects are certainly covered here, giving rise to a reflection on different levels of resilience and the lasting effects of experiences. Ending with a challenge to the audience on their own behavioural choices, this is not a show for everyone, but definitely worth seeing unless you are likely to react to the triggers listed. 

Written by Anna Curiel
Directed by Felicia Kaspar
Produced by Zofia Zerphy
Co-Produced by Berserk Theatre and Wuff Theatre

John plays at The Glitch until Friday 23 January.