Joe Judd’s debut one-act play We Dance In Fire is an excellent, intelligent criticism of our modern social landscape.
We first meet Sarah and Poppy in Sarah’s flat one Friday night: two sisters with seriously opposing ideologies and worlds. Sarah is an uptight policy advisor who only seems to care about her work. Poppy is her eccentric younger sister: an empathetic animal lover who has spent the last four years working in the same coffee shop. Poppy and her boyfriend Jacob ‘Jakey’ – we’ll get to him – belong to the Community Collective under Mr Saviour, a group who believe they are making the future a better place by cleaning the world of ‘strays’, who Sarah would describe as displaced people. The Collective label ‘strays’ as modern witches, the cause of economic hardship and unnecessary deaths in the world. Judd immediately establishes a tension between the sisters. Sarah views the Collective’s behaviour as ‘thuggery’ whereas Poppy innocuously insists that they are righteous.
While Sarah does everything to have a normal Friday night in with a takeaway and some wine, Poppy becomes consumed by a mysterious mark that appears on her sister’s back: three black circles that she is sure she has seen somewhere before… Once Jacob arrives, the trio become embroiled in a battle of conspiracy over the mark, the Collective, and the strays, all fuelled by a dodgy quiche, a dead magpie, and some very questionable antidotes.
Judd’s characters are incredibly well developed and the performances are well executed, carrying a light to the brilliance that is Judd’s writing. This cast is radiant, superbly bringing this provocative and relevant story to life.
Olivia Baird is simply brilliant as Sarah. She captures that generic uptight older sister energy effortlessly. Her stage presence is utterly captivating as she moves through the different stages of a woman on the very edge, encompassing her versatile talent.
Hanna Sophia Wright brings a youthful, sparky energy to the character of Poppy. She beautifully captures a young, impressionable person whose mind could easily be swayed due to her overflow of empathy. The dynamic of Baird and Wright evokes excitement, apprehension, tension, and a warm humour, cultivated by their talent, Judd’s writing, and Spiky Saul’s intentional, ingenious direction.
Saqib Bashir plays Jacob: a young man with the energy of a socio-politically driven golden retriever. He is ultra-woke and suspicious of the government, embodying someone I think we have all encountered before. His character is deeply relevant but also offers some welcome comedic relief.
Jess Taverner and Hugo Gregg appear as Virtue and Integrity, “V” and “I”, for a short yet memorable stint in Sarah’s flat. Who and what they represent feels borderline dystopian, but they bring an unfiltered physical comedy to the stage in tandem with the differing personality points of Sarah, Poppy and Jacob.
Judd himself notes that when he started writing this play, all he saw around him was a world of “online brain rot, fear-driven populism and clown-driven politics.” He succinctly captures these themes in a way that is entertaining, stimulating and engaging. If We Dance In Fire is only Judd’s debut, then I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. Bravo.
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