Consent review, Dorfman Theatre

Consent is a provocative look at the treatment of sexual crimes perpetrated by men against women. Whether they're being raped by strangers or cheated on by partners, the victims have to both prove the wrong, and manage the fallout. Seeking justice or escape leaves them open to further brutalisation from the legal system. It could put you off relationships forever.

Nina Raine's exhilarating play is about much more than no means no. It's a study of the well-rehearsed grey areas around Consent - areas our courts struggle to demonstrate and evidence. Every stage of sex - from meeting and courtship to signposting and bed - is grey. How can sex crimes possibly be reduced to black and white? Insights are provided by Raine's cast of barristers and their partners. We meet them talking with forensic detachment about the bloodiest of sex-related cases. In a series of cut and thrust exchanges they notch up wins and losses against each other. This includes an ongoing rape case which one is prosecuting and another defending. These are not mediators but manipulators: interrogators, interlocutors, intellectuals.

On Christmas day, the lives of the rape victim and the friends intersect. It leads to a fracturing of the central marriage in Consent. Edward and Kerry have been the heart of the group. As they unravel, everyone gets involved and everyone has a view on where the law stands in relation to Edward's actions and Kerry's rights. What happens when the facts are clear but the circumstances aren't? Shades of grey start to cloud their own understanding and judgement. The lawyers struggle to steer a straight course. What happens next is a bit pat, but not unbelievable. As the lights went up the young woman next to me said, "I'm so glad I'm single." The one on the other side of her said, "I'm so glad I'm divorced." Outside I met two actor mates resettling their nerves with fags: "Whether top dollar or bottom, women come off worst," one sighed.

In conclusion: Roger Michell directs elegantly on Hildegard Bechtier's clever, deceptively simple set. The acting is taut and superb. Anna Maxwell Martin and Ben Chaplin shine as Kerry and Edward. Heather Craney as the rape victim is deeply moving. The friendship group is Pip Carter, Daisy Haggard, Priyanga Burford, and Adam James. A brilliant, challenging, play.

Dorfman Theatre, South Bank, London SE1. Run ends 17 May.


Photograph from The Guardian