Jacob Ethan Tanner asserted himself as a writer and performer with great potential with his one-man play Shunk last year, which was showcased as a work in progress. Now, as part of the Hope Theatre’s Write Club Festival, he allows others to perform his latest offering, which he writes and directs. As with the aforementioned, Nurture intertwines dark, often uncomfortable comedy with emotive drama. Trauma takes centre stage here, rendering this a tough watch for some. Easy escapism it is not.
We start off strong with what appears to be something of a stand-up comedy routine. Awkward dad jokes are thrown out with Sam Stafford acknowledging and interacting with the audience. Tanner then immediately subverts our expectations by plunging us from light to darkness. Stafford’s unnamed character admits to putting a young boy, separated from his mother in the park, out of his misery. An icy chill envelops the small studio space as we process this revelation and adapt to the change in mood. As well as Tanner’s writing, Stafford is masterful in his delivery – his boyish smile morphing to glassy-eyed coldness in a beat. It’s a commendable and constantly engaging performance that anchors the entire production.
We are also introduced to the boy’s mother, portrayed by Gabi Martinez. She has a tough gig as her character fails to exude the emotion one might expect in a mother whose only child has just been murdered. We can’t quite work her out but as the other character’s back stories come to light, we realise they are all interconnected through shared trauma. While this might not justify her apparent coldness following such devastating news, it goes some way to explaining why she is the way she is. Grief, of course, also manifests itself in different ways for different people and Martinez works hard to exhibit the various aspects of her character’s personality.
Completing the cast is Miles Henderson as a journalist who seeks to help the mother, while in the process examining his relationship with his parents and trying to come to terms with events from his childhood. It’s a solid performance that again often keeps us guessing.
While the writing is assured, certain narrative beats are predictable and to a degree formulaic. Stafford’s character, while well performed, has such immense potential to unearth but by the close of the hour, we feel we’ve only scratched the surface of this complex individual. Ultimately, though, the compact space is well utilized with minimal props used effectively and quite a lot takes place within a short time frame.
At times tonally unbalanced with some gear shifts causing momentum to stall rather than drive the pace forwards, the play nevertheless holds our attention. As we digest what we have seen, however, we don’t feel full or completely satisfied but are rather left craving more. Perhaps with some development a future incarnation of the play can provide us that.
With the doorway for new writing sadly closing more and more these days, it is of great comfort that smaller venues such as the Hope Theatre seek to champion and harness fresh talent. While this is by no means a perfect production, we can clearly see that Tanner possesses it and with some nurturing himself, he is sure to have a promising career ahead.
Review by Jonathan Marshall
“If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise…”
After the disappearance of her son, a young Mother befriends a troubled Journalist who’s insistent on finding her little boy. As the two develop a strange bond over their respective trauma, the Young Man who took the boy guides us through his story; his horrific childhood, and his reasons for taking the child. But, as their 3 worlds begin to collide, they all slowly realise just how intertwined their lives really are…
Nurture is psychological horror about how trauma ingrains itself under our skin and refuses to go away; and an examination of how parental influences, or the lack thereof, shape the people we become – and can sometimes make us do terrible, unspeakable things…
The Young Man – Sam Stafford
The Mother – Gabi Martinez
The Journalist – Miles Henderson
Writer/Director – Jacob Ethan Tanner
Assistant Director – Issie Riley
NURTURE
The Hope Theatre, London N1 1RL
21 to 23 January 2025
