speaking up
Jail Talk is a lightly comic half-hour monologue that does exactly what it says on the tin. A solicitor visits an incarcerated client to discuss his appeal. The client remains silent while the solicitor bumbles around nervously, hinting at the details of the case and the tensions between them, neither confi rmed nor dispelled by his listener. The minimal script and concept renders creates an empty space for its performers to fi ll as they wish.
Nick Bishop balances the solicitor’s temperament between patronising authority and jittery awkwardness, painfully aware that his client has broken more than a few heads. Jarring silence yawns open between his lines, hastily blocked out with more words, as though he were plugging up the holes on a sinking ship.
The script originates from Japanese playwright Takayasu Kamiya but the most obvious point of comparison for British audiences will be Harold Pinter, emphasising the fear and ambiguity that prevents us from ever saying what we mean, fumbling towards each other through a whirl of circumlocutions. That said, Jail Talk is not demanding theatre and could equally be regarded as a funny character sketch.
Bishop holds it together with a strong, unforced physicality and natural delivery that makes you wish they’d picked something a bit longer. Worth a look, but at just under 30 minutes, Jail Talk is only half a good night out.
23rd Feb 2006