Kim Davies’ SMOKE is a provocative modern adaptation of August Strindberg’s 1888 naturalistic play, Miss Julie. Directed by Polina Kalinina and Júlia Levai, It is currently showing at Southwark Playhouse in London from 1st to 25th of February 2023.
The 70-minute production stars Meaghan Martin (Never Not Once, Park Theatre; Camp Rock; 10 Things I Hate About You) and Oli Higginson (Netflix’s Bridgerton; The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse & West End; LAVA, Soho Theatre).
The two-hander play is set in a New York City apartment where a BDSM party is taking place in the early 2010s. The entire action in the play takes place in the kitchen. The kitchen is depicted by a black sand pit with a toppled over freezer. The black sand will repeatedly play an abstract prop throughout for the actors to demonstrate everything from smoking cigarettes to the more sexually suggestive parts of the play.
Julie (Meaghan Martin), a 20 year old college student, from a privileged background meets John (Oli Higginson), a struggling artist who works for her dad. This is Julie’s first time at a BDSM party. John who admits to being a regular at such parties agrees to be her guide into this world. He tells her he is a dominant. She admits she does know what she is.
The audience, by listening to the dialogue are compelled to put what is happening together through their own imaginations, which makes this so much more powerful than if it was more overtly demonstrated. It puts the onus on the actors to deliver this in a compelling way that makes it believable. Higginson and Martin do not disappoint in their captivating performance. Their chemistry is electric throughout.
The play starts off very tame in the interactions between the two. John tells Julie he is an artist. She tells him she also paints but with acrylic. He tells her he was told that painting in acrylic is like having sex with a condom. As an oil painter myself who never went back to painting in acrylic after experiencing oils, I find this analogy quite interesting.
The entire encounter between these two individuals gradually builds to a sexually-charged game of cat and mouse. It becomes dark, when Julia hurts John’s ego and he responds aggressively. His character is revealed as something much more dangerous and darker. The boundaries of consent suddenly become unclear. Does Julie know what she is getting herself into?
SMOKE explores the concepts of gender, sexuality and desire versus consent and what is safe. The viewer is often at times made to feel uncomfortable based on what they perceive of what is happening based on their own experience and morality in this sometimes humorous but deeply intense and disturbing play.
Southwark Playhouse
