Review: RIGHT NOW, Bush Theatre, March 29 2016

Right now, in the heart of Shepherds Bush, there is a rare opportunity to see a Québecois play by award-winning playwright Catherin-Anne Toupin. Québec, a French speaking Canadian province, is rich with theatre and as translator Chris Campbell states in the foreword: is a 'pretty much perfect situation for an artist: resentment and resilience; defensiveness and defiance.'

Rising from that description comes Right Now, a tricky, darkly comic play that challenges perceptions and keeps asking questions until the very last moment.

Alice and Ben have recently moved into a new flat, but their relationship isn't as seamless as their decorating. Soon their jovial neighbours Juliette, Gilles and the odd Francois, make themselves at home and the play lifts itself to the abstract. Behaviours are magnified, truths are told and soon all sense of human decorum is dismissed when wants are fulfilled.

Michael Boyd does a great job of directing the piece, creating a grey area outside of naturalism, a perfect playground to ping this sparse dialogue. Framing this vision, Madeleine Girling's bright coloured design and Oliver Fenwick's versatile lighting work in harmony, effortlessly moving one room to many.

Responsible for the majority of laughs, Maureen Beattie gives a stand-out performance as Juliette. Smooth as treacle, she wears her heart on her sleeve without giving anything away. Not one for subtleties, the whole family plays up their roles, which is as humorous as it is alarming.

Right Now is a lot of things that modern British writing often isn't and it's this strangeness that will allure or exclude. You'll either love it or you'll hate it, but you certainly should watch it.

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