Nuclear Children is a one-person dark comedy piece written and performed by Ezra England (they/them) and directed by Seán Linnen (he/they). Produced by Platform Presents, this hour-long monologue focusing on grief and mental health is being shown in The Attic at the Pleasance Courtyard.
The comedy centres around Isla, a young adult just starting university while at the same time dealing with the loss of their father in a submarine accident and their ensuing declining mental health. Isla periodically lapses into one-sided conversation with their father, as well as narrating anecdotes to the audience – included but by no means limited to their experiences with Molly, their bird-and-toaster-obsessed roommate.
The stage is simply set up – a canvas of blue lines the floor and the wall behind where England performs, in the centre is a staircase partially sunk into the ground and sending ripples outwards from it. Isla spends much of their monologue seated on these steps, arms wrapped around their knees – stranded and alone.
Initially, I was unsure how to feel about England’s performance in Nuclear Children – there seemed little emotion as they started their monologue. However, it didn’t take long for me to become utterly enchanted by their words – they showed the audience how Isla was not comfortable talking about their emotions and what happened, and how that has affected their familial relationships following their father’s accident. As they said during the piece, largely they just felt numb.
Moments of intense vulnerability punctuate England’s otherwise deadpan and quippy performance, making the piece all the more impactful. To get their audience to go from laughing at a joke in one moment to blinking away tears in the next is a skill England excels at.
There is no better way to describe Nuclear Children than as a dark comedy. For, as amusing as my fellow audience members and I found the production, there was a part of me certain I shouldn’t be laughing at Isla’s jokes relating to their deceased father. It is an unmissable show, one which I left with tears in my eyes and a desperation to tell my friends to go and see.
