Naima Khan reviews Anya Reiss' second play, The Acid Test at Royal Court Theatre.
Flicking through the script of The Acid Test by Anya Reiss, I find it really irritating to read. Every other word is ‘like’ and most of the characters swear so excessively it makes them sound stupid. But watching the play under Simon Godwin's excellent direction is hilarious. Three twenty-one year-old girls are confused about everything including love, men and birth control, but they're not dumb; they're just young and the learning curve they're presented with in this play makes them really funny, almost endearing. Thankfully Reiss addresses the sometimes annoying but realistic dialogue directly by questioning it repeatedly, “Sorry, it's like...fuck, it's like...it's a nervous thing...” says one of the girls, making it just about bearable and actually kind of sweet.
The Acid Test takes place in Jessica's flat which she shares with the pretty, slightly slutty Dana and the immature but very much in love Ruth. During a night of break-ups and drowning of sorrows, sensible Jess brings her father Jim back to their flat after his wife leaves. When her flatmates discover Jim is open to getting drunk, they inarticulately pour their hearts our to him flirtatiously. Decorum goes out the window and though they listen earnestly to his seemingly sound advice, they're just looking for another crutch and Jess sees it all too clearly. Amidst the vodka and the pot, her relationship with her dad is thrown under the microscope and her friends can't understand why they don't get along.
In an hour and a half Reiss exposes the girls' dependency on men and booze but she does it with sympathy. She gives each character a memorable individuality and presents each of them with very familiar flaws. A solid performance from Phoebe Fox makes Ruth's need to believe in love and her ridiculous boyfriend seem sweet. Jim, astutely played by Denis Lawson, fulfils her need for guidance and masks the consequences of his own flaws (his waning relationship with his daughter, for example) by owning up to them. Convinced that the pursuit of stability is equal to maturity, he encourages Dana's “business networking” even if it involves dating her boss. And Dana – the fantastic Vanessa Kirby – of course laps it up; a guy, who probably does want to sleep with her but is so fatherly in his affection for her that she immediately trusts everything he says. Far from perfect, Jessica still comes off as the level-headed one and Lydia Wilson plays her angst and kind-heartedness perfectly.
The acting and the superb characters make the lack of a plot somehow work. Most of the melodrama happens off-stage but is reported back brilliantly with plenty of 'fucks' and 'likes' to make it all palatable and funny, and the repulsive climax is just harrowing enough to tie everything together.
This is only Reiss' second play but she can definitely call herself accomplished now.
The Acid Test runs at Royal Court Theatre until 11th June.
Image: Manuel Harlan
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