What a real pleasure to come across a brand-new play that is not adapted from a novel, movie or TV series, which is not only well written, but also imaginatively directed with an ensemble of actors who know what they are doing.
Such is You’ve Gone Quiet, by Cerys Duffy, who tells us that her ideas date back to 2020, when many of her friends were having babies. As a trans woman, she did not know if she herself wanted children and eventually developed the idea of Beth (Shane Convery), trans, helping her best friend, Tara (Gennifer Becouarn), get pregnant. Beth is a struggling journalist and turns the pregnancy into an article which “goes viral” and bites her back! The result is a well-structured, fierce, funny and heartfelt play that raises many pertinent points, yet never seems to be covering the same ground as other writing on the same subject. One of the reasons for this is that Duffy appears on the surface to treat the subject matter in a light-hearted way, and therefore entertains her audience, whilst also giving it something to think about and discuss afterwards. The result is delightful, even if the “F ” word is unnecessarily overused. Duffy has the knack/skill of being able to write a ‘good’ play, whatever that is, with ‘meaty’, believable roles and a structure which makes one want to know what happens next…
Andy McLeod knows how to direct a play and extract everything out of it, whether it is humour or pathos, both of which You’ve Gone Quiet has. His direction, such as the sparring between Rory (Matt Vickery) and Gaz (Oliver Redpath), is very amusing, shocking at times, yet always believable and never larger than life. We believe the relationship between these two – the writing succeeds in giving them life and energy. The first half of Act Two is much more serious in tone than what has gone before, but we believe it not just because of the writing but because of the naturalistic way it is directed: these are real people in real situations and we empathise with them. Perhaps the weakest scene, if one HAS to criticise, is the ‘interview’ in which the protagonists come across as being rather stereotyped. One interesting feature of Act One, which keeps us guessing, is that we do not see Beth at all, but she is presented as the most important person in the story, so that in Act Two…
The play is presented by Brighton-based Open Handed Theatre, who say that they “use stories to transform the suppressed into the spectacular“. All six actors work superbly together, giving the play the light, shade and pace that it needs. Apart from those already mentioned, Sophia Vi impresses as Samantha, as does Matt Roberts as Ian, but there is not a weak link in the company.
I cannot recommend this play too highly for those with open minds. It treats its subject matter irreverently but seriously at the same time, yet running through the evening is a sense of humour which is infectious, giving much food for thought. If only all new plays were even half as good as this one! Very highly recommended! But it is only at The Jack Studio Theatre until this Saturday! Surely it must be seen elsewhere… plays this good are few and far between!
Review by John Groves
“We are basically the same. Except for our differences.”
The news is in and you are trans.
In You’ve Gone Quiet, Beth is a struggling journalist whose best friend demands that she helps her get pregnant. But when Beth turns that into an article, the breaking news breaks her right back.
Tara: Gennifer Becouarn (she/her)
Rory: Matt Vickery (he/him)
Gaz: Oliver Redpath (he/him)
Samantha: Sophia Vi (she/her)
Ian: Matt Roberts (he/him)
Beth: Shane Convery (they/them)
Written by Cerys Duffy (she/her)
Directed by Andy McLeod (he/him)
Technical Director: Katy Matthews (she/her)
Intimacy Director: Natalie Grover (she/her)
Presented by Open Handed Theatre
YOU’VE GONE QUIET
Jack Studio Theatre
2 to 6 June 2026
