Review: RAMONA TELLS JIM, Bush Theatre

On a geography trip to the Scottish Highlands around 1998, English middle-schooler Ramona (Ruby Bentall) falls for Jim (Joe Bannister), a socially awkward local with a passion-bordering-obsession for crustaceans. Their shared love for Enya's music combined with the teenage isolation that comes with weird interests inevitably leads them to bond.

Fifteen years later, Jim has a younger girlfriend named Pocahontas (Amy Lennox) and earns a simple living doing naturalistic tours of his town. Ramona unexpectedly shows up with a dark revelation and, as Pocahontas says, "ruins everything".

Actress Sophie Wu's second play aims for quirky comedy-drama, but lacks depth of character - too slight at 80 minutes. Its depiction of both women and nerdy individuals can exasperate, with Ramona's unconventionality conveyed by constant tics and Jim's eccentricity similarly repetitive. The pair's obvious incompatibility remains unexplored.

The teenage Ramona refers to her isolation - she has no friends at school and problems at home - but neither subject is developed. Likewise the play's potentially resonant themes and ideas feel undernourished, from deception and the challenges of young love to feeling misunderstood or unable to fit in, or giving up on your dreams.

It's a shame, too, that Pocahontas should be thrust into the tired role of romantic rival (to the extend of hissing at Ramona), and characterised mainly by her difference to the central pair in order to highlight how different they are from the rest of the world.

The actors do their best with the material, but are stymied by some of Wu's too-direct dialogue. Mel Hillyard's production, occupying the Bush's new studio space, likewise stumbles when navigating the two timelines.

There are certainly spikes of brilliance, like Pocahontas's relationship with her mother ("I think something really bad might happen if I go back home"), Jim's hinted anger issues, and Ramona's social issues and implied alcoholism. It's a pity that Wu's piece doesn't carry them further.

Ramona Tells Jim runs at Bush Theatre until 21 October

Photo credit: Samuel Taylor

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