Buckle in, readers: a new bisexual play has hit London and we think it will rock your world.
Jessica Lazar, who is behind several successful off-West End shows such as Anna Bella Eema (Arcola Theatre), and Outlying Islands (King’s Head Theatre), is directing award-winning actors Jessica Clark and Rebecca Banatvala in SAP, the debut play by Raffaela Marcus.
SAP is a modern, urban fable that has its roots in Greek mythology – think The Song of Achilles meets Killing Eve. It draws inspiration from the original myth of Daphne and Apollo, the heartbreaking transformation story that compels writers to this day. SAP puts a contemporary queer spin on it and places a bisexual character at its core, all the while keeping the mythological references, the key subjects of power and passion, and the floral imagery. What’s not to love?
Jessica Clark, who you might know from BBC2’s Versailles or Kiln Theatre’s The Wife of Willesden, was awarded a Stage Edinburgh award for her performance in the play. She is joined by Rebecca Banatvala, who appeared in RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing as well as Netflix’s The Princess Switch 3 – a truly versatile actor.
The play will be running at Soho Theatre’s Upstairs space, which is dedicated to new writing, emerging companies, and young people hungry for brave stories and spellbinding characters that resonate with them. This was hugely important for both the director and the production company Ellie Keel: “Along the way, [the play] explores coercive control, consent, bisexuality, trauma… Nothing is dealt with superficially. It is hard-hitting, but it is done deftly and with great sensitivity.”
The production is extremely audience-focussed: this specific staging takes into account people’s changing viewing habits and impacted attention span, especially in a post-pandemic world. As such, it promises to be hugely engaging in its storytelling and characterisation: “A play can be as topical and worthwhile as you like, but people have to come and see it. And that means the characters have to be deeply interesting, things have to keep happening, and it has to hold our attention.” We love a consciously developed piece of performance art!
SAP is running from now until 27 May, with tickets available from £13. Catch it if you’re interested in exploring an innovative new writer and brilliant actors in a play all about bisexuality – and photosynthesis.
If you’re hungry for more theatre, check out our review of the immersive theatre production The Burnt City.
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Enjoy,
Team Nonchalant x
After trying out several European cities, Ditta moved to London three years ago, and although she finds the weather, rent prices, and transport times abysmal, the capital’s music scene was vibrant enough to get her to stay. She currently works at a technology PR firm and spends all her free time in amateur theatre groups, at open mics, yoga classes, poetry readings, or at home watching Netflix and eating too many peanut M&M’s. She’s a native speaker of Hungarian, fluent in French, and could still get by in Russian and Portuguese with some polishing.
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