The Project by Shannon Kurlander. The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London SE 4 to 3 February 2024.

4****: William Russell.

“What Katie did next – worth finding out.”

Katie is a mess. She has taken refuge in a wellness retreat after a series of disastrous love affairs – the men in her life need purging much as someone might go to the Betty Ford clinic it seems or Catholics do for religious reasons in order to meditate. Kurlander clad in elegant pink leisure wear sprawls on the chaise longue in her room, which is a mess, and reflects on just what went wrong and, it appears, whether the man who is also at the wellness retreat might be worth pulling herself together for. It is a heartfelt performance beautifully delivered and director Lydia McKinley keeps her on the move. The result is more than a monologue as, even if they are not there in the flesh, the people Katie talks about can be heard as distant voices and on the first night the audience was full of women with whom what she was going through clearly struck chords. The retreat is one in which Katie for most of the time has to cope with being alone, with slowing down. As an ageing he/him it was not exactly my world but for the assorted she/hers, she/theys and the they/thems present it certainly was one they knew. That is said not to mock but just to make clear how much one can relish what theatre can do to open new worlds for audiences. Does she get clean? It is certainly worth finding out and one can only hope this beautifully staged Greatest Hits Productions piece – the set by Ellie Wintour is dominated by a large sphere at the back which changes colour as Katie’s mood swings fits the Studio space perfectly – is seen elsewhere . The current series of short runs at the Jack has come up with another intriguing show and what Katie did next is well worth discovering.

Cast

Shannon Kurlander – Katie.

Creatives

Director – Lydia McKinley.

Set Design – Ellie Wintour.

Lighting Design – Lydia Morgan.

Costume Design – Eddie Langham.