Nuffield Theatre Southampton & Theatre First

The whole class pick on Martha (Verity Hewlett) she is just a quiet child from a deeply religious family but they have a secret! An abomination, which mustn’t be discovered at any cost.

When new boy Scott (Adam Ward) arrives at the school he seems to be siding with the majority against her but slowly he sees more in her and a friendship develops. This friendship causes him to be bullied but he doesn’t care as in his twelve year old mind he loves Martha. Scott seems to be the catalyst leading to big changes in the lives of all his new schoolmates, Martha and her parents.

Milenka James along with Verity and Adam, portray all the characters in this deeply moving if somewhat dark production. These performers are also in “Not Now Bernard” in C venues. The two productions are considerably different in content but both superbly performed. The writers of both productions show some deep understanding of children’s psyche at different ages. Where as ‘Not Now, Bernard’ left me laughing and very much on an up, ‘Abomination’ dissolved me in to tears.

The set is basically a metal cube with several differing levels of space. The whole area is cleverly used and the choreography, it is much more than direction, very well done.

My one and only grumble is that I feel it is a little too long.

Otherwise superbly done thanks everyone.

Venue;  C, Chambers Street  V 34

Dates;   30th July  to  24th August

Times;    17-00  to  18-25

Fringe programme number  114