Gen Y and beyond

Laura Jackson's one woman play told a story of internet girlfriend pics and privacy and rape presented as a story of the Gen Y women's experience. All this can be challenging for a man to view, but Laura was humane in her rendition. A central young male character is initially seen as guilty but there's humanity in the chatter around him but to say more would give away the plot. For all the harrowing story and the developing understanding, Laura, too, is humane and understanding. This is feminist but the darts that are flung are justified and there's an openness to other views. Laura wrote the play and performed the roles of seven characters as they intersect to solve the crimes. It's both an old story (rape has been around forever) and a new one (privacy and Internet porn pics). We don't often see Kelsey, the woman at the centre of the story, but she's often present. We do see her companion, sister, a sexologist and solicitor and policewoman and step-sister. When we do see Kelsey, it's to see her dress to go out on Christmas Eve, obviously after some time in seclusion. The first event happened on 14 Dec. I'm pondering if it's 2 or 54 weeks of seclusion. In the meantime, we've observed the characters, but also pics and FB chats projected between scenes that are core to the story and our understanding. It's perfectly apt for this story and quite revealing. I found the work confronting but humane, suspenseful but nicely revealed. The solicitor got a ditsy treatment, but she also exposed some key facts in the developing plot. The sexologist did raise some queries while exposing credulousness. It's a revealing drama that suits the time: a recent International Women's Day and the prominence of domestic violence in the press, and the Internet is always just around the corner for community concern. Thanks to Laura for an exposé of a young woman's experience for this boomer male. I could imagine it all, but theatre provides the experience.

Laura Jackson (actor, playwright) presented the one-woman play, Handle it, at Street Theatre 2. Janys Hayes directed.