In My Bed (24:7 Festival, Manchester)

Rebekah Harrison’s three hander, set in a bedroom, is about relationships, friendship, sex, desire and illusive love.

The stage space is dominated by a bed, whose white sheets reflect in the light of a bedside lamp. They are quickly changed to bedding with a velvet black band and, one wonders if this is symbolic of the loss of purity and the dire consequences that follow.

The bed is host to Sarah, Danny and Rose's changing emotions. They romp around it, have sex in it and talk on it – to such an extent that the bed itself almost becomes a character.

Olivia Sweeney gives a sterling performance as Sarah who dreams of love but is made to suffer for her attraction to Danny.

Kurt Nikko is Danny, a two timer who believes he is incapable of caring for anyone, but ultimately we begin to wonder if this is true.

Towards the end Sweeney and Nikko give full vent to their characters’ feelings. The result is so palpable that you want to duck out of the way.

Amy Drake‘s Rose is a much quieter character who acts as a sounding board for her friend Sarah. She tries to calm the troubled waters with a dose of common sense. She is the most believable of the characters and by the end I didn't blame her for walking out on their love/hate relationship.