Jellyfish

I’m trying an experiment. I am not a theatre critic and don’t want to write about entire production I see — their qualities and details and overarching pros and cons. Instead I am going to try writing about one moment from a piece of theatre I am keen to share.

Yesterday I was the new play JELLYFISH by Ben Weatherill which is about a woman with Down’s Syndrome who lives in a British beach town. The woman falls in love with a young man who is able-bodied and “normal”. They become pregnant. How will they navigate this almost insurmountable challenge, a gauntlet her mother certainly doesn’t want to help them run? Surely he will be seen as a predator?

The moment that moved me the most in the play was a scene when the woman - played by the marvelous actress with Down’s Syndrome herself, Sarah Gordy - meets with her good friend who has Asperger’s Syndrome, played by the wonderful actor who has Asperger’s himself, Nicky Priest. The writing in that moment was totally grown up and adult and serious: they were talking about sex. What does it feel like? How do you do it? Will Nicky’s character ever have sex himself? The scene personified the play itself: quite simple in its goals but intensely direct, very funny, ridiculously tender, a tiny bit sad, and joyous. Neither character has a psychic filter so what they think is what they say and it made for the most fabulously funny exchange - him asking her questions and she gently yet firmly telling him about experiencing the sexual act. The scene buoyed me and the audience swooned.

The scene from JELLYFISH as played at The Bush Theatre with Nicky Priest as Dominic and Sarah Gordy as Kelly.