The premise of this show, written and directed by Alice McKee – a one-woman piece set over the course of an evening in a lesbian sex club – is certainly one ripe for comedy and drama, but I have to say Perverts falls short.
For a piece about a kinky sex club, Mared Jarman, the lead, is dressed like someone on any other night out with a harness thrown on top. Whilst there’s some brilliant commentary on lesbian relationships and community, the piece fails to engage with kink in any meaningful way. There were some comments about sexual activities happening around the characters, but no character engaged in them, and the jokes pretty much entirely ignored kink. The story could have happened in any lesbian-majority club or house party and would not have fundamentally changed.
Jarman’s performance as Katie is strong, with some cracking comedic moments, though is let down at times by production choices. It’s no mean feat to keep pace and engagement up over 40 or so minutes, and Jarman managed this well, with excellent comedic delivery.
However, Jarman’s performance is almost entirely let down by the choice to have all other characters be portrayed over voice over. This takes away agency from Jarman in their pacing of the piece, and often the shows grinds to a halt. The voice acting is often wooden and the voices are not distinct enough for me to be able to distinguish between characters – in fact I was surprised that it wasn’t just one person doing all of the characters. At times you could see Jarman actively struggling to keep energy throughout extended conversations with the voiceovers. This comes to a head when the dramatic height of the piece rings hollow, as Jarman acts their heart out to a voiceover which could never have matched their energy.
The rise and fall of techno music from Sound Designer Helen Walpole is effective throughout, keeping the pace of the piece going whilst also being careful not to overpower the more sensitive scenes. Lighting conveys the colours of a club well, but in the absence of bodies to fill the stage it often feels over-lit, only exaggerating how alone Jarman was, rather than playing with shadows to create the claustrophobia the show discussed.
McKee’s writing is at its strongest when they are being funny or leaning into the poetry of it. It was able to keep the audience engaged in the story, but doesn’t get the highs and lows they were clearly aiming for. The ending ultimately feels shoe-horned, like McKee decided that the character needed to have a revelation and discover how to be happy, without satisfactorily building toward that or giving any clear reason for the sudden change of attitude.
Perverts stands as a promising piece which could be improved without changing much, but unfortunately its current form lets down the great performance by Jarman.
VAULT Festival 2023 runs Tuesday 24th January to Sunday 19th March, full listings and ticket information can be found here.
This review was written by a participant of the VAULT Festival New Critics Programme in partnership with Theatre Weekly. For more information about the VAULT Festival New Critics Programme, and all of our 2023 participants, please visit: https://vaultfestival.com/new-critics-programme/
