Wednesday 11 October 2017

Pleading (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

On their gap year after school, Freya and Michael are travelling the world.  Or were, for they now find themselves in a Middle Eastern jail with nobody to turn to.  Three weeks into their incarceration they are once again sharing a room, this time with bars on the windows, and sounding frightened, uncertain.

Cue Amelia, a defence lawyer appointed by the court, who explains the seriousness of the charges against them, and the consequences of being found guilty.  And that she can perhaps get their sentence mitigated of they plead guilty.  But are they responsible for their fate, or pawns in someone else's game?  And when they are confronted with the starkest of choices, can they reach agreement on the way forward?

Through conversations between the couple, and their gradually evolving statements to the lawyer, the guilty party is eventually revealed, with a few red herrings along the way.  Kim Allan's Freya is a volatile mix of innocence, calculation, exploitation and faith, while Daniel Cameron as Michael is aggrieved, petulant, defensive, accusing.  Both are excellent, although I was less convinced by Nicole Cooper's Amelia, who lacked the sense of professionalism you'd expect from her character.  The script has a few clunky moments as well, but overall this is an interesting take on an awkward subject, and how people can be manipulated.

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