As a university student I have never seen a play that so vividly and accurately captured this time in the lives of us all. Every character was real to me and the situations and very difficult questions that were posed still have me thinking. - Thomas Eslinger
12 Jul 11
Anya Reiss clearly has a gift for dialogue of women of her generation and, presumably, her social peers. The ingenious setting for The Acid Test seats the audience inside the living room of a flat shared by three of these young women. Combined with the naturalistic style means that it is easy to forget that you are watching four actors. It's rather like watching one of those awful scripted "reality" shows which are coming from America in increasing numbers. The trouble is that if I wanted to see a girl arguing with her dad I could have stayed at home and I spent much of the time empathising with Denis Lawson's Jim, especially when he complained about the girls' constant tedious and vacuous swearing and their refusal to engage with the realities of adulthood. Anya Reiss fails to convey any real reason for the mutual hostility between Jessica and Jim but at least she avoids the cliches of child abuse or Jim becoming inappropriately involved with her flatmates. The Acid Test will be highly popular with those that are glued to E News and Ryan Seacrest's multiple "reality" shows but has no more substance than an episode of The Hills, The City, etc. - David Baxter
03 Jun 11
This production lingers in the memory because of the astonishing veracity of the characterisations (only rivaled by Ecstasy, at the moment) and the ambiguity of the play's meaning (Spur of the Moment was much easier to decipher, as the precocious girl in that so obviously was NOT acting in the spur of the moment). I think that the issue of avoiding wolves in sheep's clothing (who show compassion but have no soul) is probably key to understanding this play, but I'm still thinking about it. The set, in which you have to search out Room 11, and then the audience sits all around the apartment, coupled with universally excellent acting from all 4 principals, left me with the distinct feeling of having been a fly on the wall at an event that actually happened. Despite her character being both brash and a ditz (who knew the combination was possible), I was completely taken by the unforgettable charming and altogether loveable charcterisation of Ruth by Phoebe Fox. Excellent! - Steve
