Returning to the Traverse Theatre after the success of Mouthpiece, dramaturgist Kieran Hurley presents Adults, a comedy of errors and misunderstandings that depicts generational conflict and captures the discontent and inherent sense of failure that seemingly unites two generations, millennials and boomers.
At Adults’ core lies a deliberately controversial theme – that of sex workers – within a generation that has seen its dreams shattered before they could even be pursued. Comedy arises from the generational clash and, inevitably, from numerous sketches with sexual undertones. The narrative pretext centres around the encounter between Zara (Dani Heron), who manages a brothel in Edinburgh, and a new client, her former English literature teacher, Iain (Conleth Hill), now weary and disillusioned, seeking a renewed sense of carefree living through Jay (Anders Hayward), Zara’s co-worker.
The actors prove adept, propelling a series of gags, punchlines, and counterpunches, deliberately verging on the grotesque in comedic sketches. Nevertheless, their performances lack narrative depth, likely due to a script that, in its attempt to entertain, forsakes the social commentary it strives to embody, reduced to mere arid rhetoric within preachy monologues that lack credibility given the context of a suburban brothel.
None of the characters, not even the talented Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones and Suits), stand out for depth or originality as they come across as stereotypical, scarcely defined or characterized. On one side, a professor at the end of his career, worn down by an unhappy marriage and estranged from his adult daughters.
On the other side, two sex workers: Zara, who operates in secret to avoid her father’s judgment, and Jay, who vainly attempts to salvage his pride by contributing to his family’s income. Yet the true desperation that led them here, the internal conflicts that should be tormenting them, and even a potential sense of defeat remain unexplored. The comedy lingers for far too long, eventually tapering into a simplistic and unsatisfying conclusion imbued with facile optimism: the trio reconciles, bound by shared existential anguish and perhaps, now, by friendship.
A mildly enjoyable comedy but ultimately incapable of conveying anything more profound. The play falls short of what could have been appreciated by the many millennials in the audience.
