#56 See four shows at the west end; The Nether

A few moths ago I went to see the Nether with a friend.

It turns out writing about something you love is incredibly hard, however, simply put, the Nether is everything I will ever want from a play.

The story itself is incredibly dark, and by now if you've heard of the play you'll probably know why. With such a dark subject matter form the off start (it involves children), I felt completely unsettled and incredibly close to standing up and leaving. The whole subject unnerved me to the core, but perhaps because of that the whole story becomes so pertinent and I really cared for it in every single moment of the play.

The real star though is the production, which follows the example of the engrossing and inventive storyline, and combines traditional staging with futuristic digital projections which merge seamlessly with the crisp staging of dollhouse Americana, poplar trees and the most brilliant use of mirrored walls. The whole effect is otherworldly and a perfect example of when out digital minds entrenched in our cinematic references and cues, actually manage to mould all of this into something new and spectacular.

I enjoyed the speculative nature of the play and I really hope to see something else by the playwright. It really was the best play I've ever seen.