Not Your Life

In a chalet on a mountain side, three friends are about to be reunited. Two of them, Aaron (Riain Cash) and Lisa (Lucy Clifton) are married and share 2 children. Jacob (Yalim DaniÅŸman), Aaron’s best friend, has been away fighting in a war. But as the couple prepare for Jacob’s return, it’s more than apparent that all is not sweetness and light.

Jacob has been fighting in an extended war, while Aaron and Lisa have married, borne 2 children and set up a near-idyllic life. Awkward greetings, stunted conversations, and furtive looks all suggest something hidden, something deeper than the rustiness of reigniting a friendship after so much has passed. What unfolds is a story

DaniÅŸman and Kucucuk have created a powerful story of love, jealousy, and betrayal that looks at the power of friendship and family and how both shape who we are and what we do. But surprisingly, they have made this story of friends who’ve gone their separate ways into a tense and visceral psychological drama.

It would be remiss to give further detail of the story here as much of the joy in this production is being witness to the unfolding narrative. Through a series of conversations the past is teasingly revealed to us through seemingly abstract statements that come together later in a series of increasingly intense revelations.

The ensemble cast are collectively wonderful, each teasingly hiding and then confronting their character’s past. If there’s a niggle with this play then it would be the length. At only an hour, the ending does feel a bit rushed and the denouement misses the emotional punch this story deserves. But this is a minor gripe in what is a deliciously dark, intriguing, and hugely engaging production.

Sonny Waheed