A brand-new piece of writing from Theatre Nisha UK, Stable by Taruna Nalini arrived at the wonderfully intimate Alma Tavern & Theatre this weekend.
A 15-minute section of the play featured at the Beyond Face showcase at Tobacco Factory Theatres back in 2023. Following that, a 30-minute excerpt of the show went on a South West mini tour with Uncaged Theatre. Now for the first time, Theatre Nisha UK has brought the full, expanded 60-minute version to Bristol with Jacky Crosher directing a brand-new cast.
The play is a gripping narrative about the relationship between a psychologist and a patient who is looking to rebuild her shattered life, and explores just how dangerous the collapse of a therapist’s moral compass can be. In doing so, it touches on a maze of psychological games, evasions, denials, and duplicities.
Stable also shows how our society struggles with the moral limits of sexual conduct between those who hold power and those who don’t: trying to define what constitutes coercion and whether sexual behaviour between unequals can ever be considered mutual. The play asks whether it is ever possible to enter an intimate therapeutic relationship that is not exploitative.
The main thrust of the narrative follows psychologist Jack (Robert Finlay), who is drawn to his client – Ava (Sarah Horrex) – over the course of a series of therapy sessions. Meanwhile, Ava’s newfound ease from therapy prompts her to invite home an old friend, Nathan (Nicholas Downton-Cooper), resulting in troubling consequences for her and subsequently for Jack.
In sessions with his own therapist, Tara (Stephanie Richards), Jack attempts to explores these feelings, but falters. The result? A breakdown in the very safeguards around therapy, and some devastating and life-changing consequences for all the characters.
Although not completely original, as these questions have been explored before – particularly well in the Gabriel Byrne drama In Treatment (HBO) or in the real-life therapeutic sessions documented in Couples Therapy (BBC), Stable delves into relationships, boundaries and the repercussions of the characters’ actions, asking if the misuse of power can ever be forgiven or overlooked.
The action unfolds through duologues between the four characters, the writing serves as a modern cautionary tale. We witness the slow and dangerous collapse of Jack’s internal compass leading to wrong, destructive decisions that are devastating not just for him but also Ava.
The two leads are hard parts, demanding frenetic, non-stop physical and emotional engagement from Finlay and Horrex, who both deliver. Horrex in particular has a lot to carry and compensates for the parts of the script which fall into a loudly lecturing tone. As a result, the play roars, though occasionally a little too loudly in its polemic. I found the escalation of Jack and Ava’s relationship almost too speedy to be believable and despite being a bright spark in the therapy room, Jack seemed oddly naïve when embarking on this disastrous tryst.
At times the play feels overactive with no humour or shade. It relies heavily on Stephanie Richards’ Tara to be the reasoned, sensible voice and conscience; the anchor in the midst of the bleakness that envelops everyone. She talks about the code therapists live by, the one that will therefore be tested to breaking point by the pivotal event of the story.
But Stable has a powerful parting shot, highlighting the tightrope that therapists must walk and the chaos that can ensue if they get it wrong.
Stable is at The Rondo, Bath on January 31 at 8pm.
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