Plus One

Gregory

Michael Pilch Studio

Written and Directed by Nina Jurkovic

Flaming polar bears, Eurovision parties and a terrible break up. A comedic, dramatic, multimedia fever dream. Plus One was such a unique production and involved so many different kinds of acting - with inserts on film, audio clips and onstage scenes - and was an amazing opportunity to try loads of different things. I think the staging of this show was particularly technically impressive, harnessing projection, screens, captions, and a fluid set that transformed into each new location.

Gregory was a classic gaslighting, faux-intellectual soft boy, but who is reimagined several times over by Martha as she romanticises their relationship after the break up. In the true-to-life scenes, the greatest challenge was finding the balance between his fragile masculinity and his mistreatment of Martha with a simple lack of understanding of the way his behaviour affects her. Gregory just doesn't realise the imbalance in their relationship and the way that his actions cut her so deeply.

As the play progresses post-break up, Martha begins to lose herself in her imagination, conjuring up wild fantasies in her head about Gregory. He plays a self-assured hero in one moment, only to crumble into tears in the next, as Martha thinks about the end of the world, and how their first conversation will go when they meet again. As you can imagine, I had a lot of fun switching in and out of scenes during the show, dabbling in comedy and then jumping head first into the argument that leads to their break up.

I think this is one of the most accomplished student-written comedies I have had the privilege of working on as an actor. The structure of the play feels natural and well-crafted despite jumping between timelines and switching from reality into fantasy. Nina is so effortlessly funny and the script shines with her humour in every scene. Each actor brought so much energy and enthusiasm to the show and it was a truly collaborative environment as we worked the script into shape for the stage. Izzy Lever was astounding as Martha - breaking the fourth wall with ease and seamlessly re-entering scenes with such charisma, charm and commitment, even though she leaves the stage for just a few seconds of the entire show! I really hope this isn't the last that I will see of Plus One.