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Theatre

Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre

18 May 18 – 11 Aug 18, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

Nina Raine's thrilling examination of truth, justice and consent gets a West End transfer after selling out at the National Theatre

By Lucy Brooks on 12/3/2018

6 CW readers are interested
Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre
Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre
Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre Frankie Crossley
After a sell-out 2107 premiere at the National Theatre, Consent transfers to the West End for a limited twelve-week run at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The new cast for the transfer includes Claudie Blakley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Heather Craney and Adam James.
Click here to book.

Consent, National Theatre review ★★★★★

Consent – the simple giving of permission – is one of the most abused words in our language. It's the two syllables upon which much of law depends. It's at the core of every rape trial and the crux of each marriage vow.


In a new collaboration between Out of Joint and the National Theatre, playwright Nina Raine unpacks the endless complexity surrounding this one word in two-and-a-half hours of thrilling, thought-provoking and bitterly funny theatre.


Consent is an artfully-wrought play, swirling together strands of courtroom theatrics, domestic drama and Greek epic to scrutinise the titular concept from every angle. It was eight years in the making, with days spent observing real rape trials, but the weight of research supports rather than crushes the characterisation.




Photo by Sarah Lee



The cast of well-heeled, well-educated Londoners feel familiar, thanks in equal part to fluent dialogue and deft, rounded performances.


Barrister Ed (Ben Chaplin) and his wife Kitty (Anna Maxwell-Martin) live in a half-unpacked Lewisham house with four-week-old Leo (who is played with pink-cheeked perfection by Raine’s own baby, Misha Wakefield Raine). The couple share champagne and quip about current cases with friends and fellow lawyers Rachel (Priyanga Burford) and Jake. Later we meet Zara (Daisy Haggard), an actress preparing to play Medea and longing for a baby of her own, and Tim (Pip Carter) yet another lawyer, whose body odour is the butt of jokes.


Other gags stem from snobbery, sex and anecdotes about defendants; it’s the kind of brutal, unchecked humour that’s woven around the intricacies of rape, murder and mutilation. As the story knots into infidelity, post-natal depression, custody battles and rape accusations (in and out of court), Roger Mitchell’s production cranks up the pace. It's tense to watch yet densely packed with moral and intellectual arguments.


Consent is an examination of the law – whether reason can or should be truly free from passion, the fine line between examination and exploitation, the potential power of a punitive system. But it’s also an exploration of justice beyond the courtroom: our quotidian truths and ability to understand, empathise, make amends and forgive. It asks multiple questions and denies any possibility of singular answers.


Logic and emotion conflict and collapse into the triple theme of law, theatre and human relationships. Arguments are both the broad and intimate, but what’s more remarkable is how vital they feel. Instead of presenting dry, didactic debate, Consent animates the issues, bringing them closer to home. We feel culpable in the injustices and suddenly uneasy about our own abilities and rights to make judgements.



by Lucy Brooks

What Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre
Where Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN | MAP
Nearest tube Piccadilly Circus (underground)
When 18 May 18 – 11 Aug 18, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Price £15 - £50
Website Click here to book



Up to £50
Consent, Harold Pinter Theatre
Booking closed
18 May 18 - 11 Aug 18

Consent

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