Showing @ Paradise in The Vault, until 29 Aug @ 9:15pm
A compelling and engaging story, Sherica tells of a Guardian-reading compassionate teacher and how his life falls ever so slowly into ruin after starting to visit a massage parlour prostitute.
This could be the story of modern ‘sick’ Britain, without the riots. Kids with ADHD, people supplementing their low wages with sex work, teachers letting pupils rule the school. If it were not a play of this high quality it could easily be a nightmare of David Cameron, come home to roost, written large.
With six characters of such huge personalities this could have been played out on a much larger scale without losing any of the intimacy. But in such a small theatre you could feel, smell and almost taste the passion radiating from the actors (all of whom deserved the applause from the few but eager attendees).
A morality play that does not take itself too seriously, masterfully written by Ian Winterton, which deserves a far larger audience. A true gem at this year’s festival.