Review: It’s Not About Coffee, Jack Studio Theatre

A mile underground in a Hawaiian bunker, Katherine (Jennifer Kehl) and Zona (Sophia Hail) meet for an intense trial. They’ve received 50% of the fee and will get the remaining $30,000 at the end of the 60-day period, assuming they successfully complete The Task. And The Task? They just need to learn how to make coffee professionally: keep stock up to date, memorise the menu, keep uniforms neat and clean, and service the coffee machine. They need to be always ready for a visitor who will randomly appear and ask for their preferred choice of coffee. For this, they cohabitate a very small space, never leave, and receive their meals via a hatch at timed intervals throughout the day. There is no Wi-Fi, so their isolation is complete.

Initially, it is an interesting exercise in the intensity of cohabitation, made more compelling by the two characters, who are opposite in every way. Katherine, an overachiever with several degrees, is a rule follower, has memorised the contract and follows the routine to the minute, immaculate in her uniform and keeping everything neat and tidy. Zona is a yoga devotee, messy, journals, completes art projects, is devoted to her house plant and has irregular sleep patterns. She has not read the contract and has little interest in retaining complicated coffee recipes. A natural human need for interaction and the relentless intensity and solitude of their days mean they bond, find common ground and begin to share clothes, memories and ultimately views. Their expected inspector never arrives, and their discipline fades.

About a third of the way in, things become distinctly dystopian as the audience becomes aware it is 2027 and climate change and war have changed the world dramatically. Lockdowns are frequent, all women’s rights have been removed, and their passports stamped with a huge W denoting their status. More than just the money, this is about survival, and each character has their own personal motivation for completing The Task.  

The script, written by Hail and Kehl themselves, is tight and interesting. The choice of 2027, just two years away from the current day, provides an insight into something that is realistically tangible and scary, particularly as we experience another record-breaking summer, with current geopolitics taking a frightening turn. References to Covid lockdowns, less than five years past, palpably serve to remind the audience of the reality of isolation.

The acting is very good, each actor providing a foil to one other, and as they open up their personalities shift and begin to merge. Music and comic dancing mark a change of pace which work well to keep the audience interested, as they often lean in, grinning at the pair’s goofy actions.  

The set perfectly portrays the reality of living in such close proximity: work and sleeping quarters in the same room, cheek by jowl. The two single camp beds are pushed apart to provide as much privacy as possible, but there is still only two metres between them. The nature of the small studio performance space amplifies the intimacy as the audience feels like co-inhabitants, and Zona’s houseplant becomes a barometer for survival, with moisture levels calculated reverentially.

The final twist of the plot is shocking: plausible enough to provide a frisson of fear for the audience. This really is an interesting evening, twisting as it does through a near-future dystopia that’s uncomfortably close to our own. It’s a sharp, satirical journey that challenges the illusion of choice, civility, and capitalism itself.

Written by Sophia Hail and Jennifer Kehl
Directed by Sophia Hail
Lighting Designer & Operator: Ferdy Emmet
Sound Designer: Sophia Hail  
Sound Operator: Austin Yan
Stage Manager: Jolie Le Bell
Dramaturg: Evey Reidy
Presented by Little Coup Theatre

It’s Not About Coffee plays at The Jack Studio until Saturday July 19th