BEDBUG by Justin Hopper at Drayton Arms Theatre until 22 June

‘Within the play there are moments of beautiful, descriptive writing.’ ★★★

Justin Hopper’s new play ‘Bedbug’ opens with protagonist Sally thoroughly and cheerfully eviscerating her dubious boyfriend, Ben, in a game of Scrabble. Sally’s intelligence, and her interest in puzzles and mental gymnastics is occasionally fanciful – she confidently arranges a high-scoring word which then cannot be found in the dictionary – but predominantly endearing and lends a playful, recursive element to the structure of the play. The predisposition towards wordplay is echoed later in the scene, when Sally, the archetypal millennial do-gooder, gently scolds her more conventional boyfriend on the appropriate language to use to describe a homeless person. In this opening scene there is the intriguing suggestion that the effort to choose the correct words to describe the reality around you may obfuscate from recognising that reality. After all, what does it matter how Sally chooses to talk about the people she sees on the street until she opens her door and invites the outside in?

 ‘Bedbug’ is not, strictly speaking, a play about homelessness. Rather, it is a dramatization of mental ill-health, albeit one in which an unhoused person features prominently as an invasive, malignant force bent upon infiltrating the intimate mental and physical space of a main character. The uncomfortable suggestion of a parallel between the unhoused character and a rat, mercifully poisoned but now decomposing under the floorboards, was an unsavoury and conspicuous touch, which detracted from the main story. Ultimately, the sense that Sally’s altruism is foolish and destructively naïve sits uncomfortably with the erstwhile themes of the play, which lean more towards the effects of trauma and how to manage episodes of poor mental health. Furthermore, the convention by which a character is used to personify depression has become familiar on stage and screen. Within the play there are moments of beautiful, descriptive writing, however these are compromised by an overall lack of focus.

Elsewhere in the play, both dialogue and setting feel detailed and convincing. Sally and Ben’s relationship and their shared history feels genuine, even if the chemistry between the two actors occasionally does not. Likewise, the details (invented or otherwise) that we learn about the character of Wise Man, his backstory, relationships and mannerisms, hint compellingly towards a denouement that ultimately never arrives. The sense of realism is complemented by Constance Comparot’s stage and costume design, which is thoughtful and comprehensive, right down to the use of a Sally Rooney title as a makeshift medicine tray. Andy Straw’s lighting and sound design is at times overbearing, forcibly directing the eye where a gentler touch would be more suitable.

Bedbug by Justin Hopper, Drayton Arms Theatre, 11 – 22 June, Produced by Compulsive Theatre

Box Office: https://www.thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk/bedbug

Reviewed by Natalie Mackinnon