Review: DIVERSIFICATIONS, Old Red Lion Theatre

Three women gather in a waiting room to receive the results of their genetic testing. Through palpable tension, they (over)share and confess their deepest secrets, regrets, and hopes. From desperately wanting children, having four of them, or never having been the motherly type, they are ruled by gender expectations.

They collectively decide to ignore what their DNAs have in store for them and let the genetic lottery do its thing, lying to their partners, husbands, and exes. A year after Samantha passes, her ex-husband Alan organises to meet the others to wrap their heads around their spouses' reckless decision.

While their deaths could have been prevented in a multitude of ways, the result ultimately conceals a last, blazing attempt to take control of their lives. As the men open up in grief, we uncover a routine of weaponised ignorance, blatant toxic masculinity, and complacency for doing the bare minimum.

In a back-and-forth between the two factions, Natalie Ekberg explores heteronormative relationships through eclectic, empathetic lenses. Diversifications isn't without flaw, but it's a thought-provoking, profound play. It's infuriating from a feminist point of view and reveals a variety of societal issues - whether this is of the playwright's volition or not.

The women are part symbols, part stereotypes. Pamela (Sariya Steyl) - in a relationship with Juan (Alvaro Flores) - is a posh and well-spoken stylist who believes everyone with a womb should be a mother but struggles to conceive after three abortions and a life of partying. Corinna (Kaara Benstead), married to Patrick (Jermaine Dominique), went from Oxford to washing down her stifling husband and children with wine. Samantha (Janine Wood), divorced from brexiteer Alan (Nick Morrison Baker) is post-menopausal, frustrated, outspoken, and lonely.

All the men display tangible, unignorable red flags. Selfish and self-centred, they twist their respective loss and make it about them in spectacular self-victimisation. Death becomes the women's price to pay for god-knows-what - perhaps for giving them a hard time whilst still accepting the acceptable modicum? - but they toast to their late beloved and forgive them for abandoning them.

Mostly, they all seem in love with an idea more than the real, well-rounded person their partners are. Juan loves Pamela's stubbornness and the fact that she always gets her way - until it clashes with what he wants. Juan prevents Corinna to be the main breadwinner so is against her going back to work, all the while feeling suffocated by the mayhem of his own family.

Samantha takes her man's patronising tendencies in her stride, but ultimately is the only one who's equal to her counterpart. Wood and Morrison Baker share a delicate yet sizzling chemistry as the dysfunctional couple. He is charming even in his sheer misogyny (he left her because he couldn't accept her going through menopause!), while she is utterly compelling.

Steyl's performance is permeated by a backhanded sadness that turns her character into a mysterious figure in the trio. She is diametrically opposed to Benstead's salt-of-the-earth alcoholic mother, who proudly hides the bottles in her kids' rooms. Dominique masks Patrick's manipulation under a chummy facade, swiftly turning into a dislikable twit who's looking for a second wife to raise his children and blames Corinna for his own shortcomings as a husband.

Flores concludes the line-up of narcissists with self-absorption locked behind the image of a nice guy, blaming Pamela too for leaving him alone with a baby he only half-wanted. While it might look like a misandrist play from this account, it's actually an extremely forgiving and sympathetic show - which could be fairly worrisome if it fell in the wrong hands.

As the men talk about their pain and compare their misfortunes, they judge one another, showing their support in the same breath. The ending reinforces a lack of condemnation from the playwright, who seems a tad too supportive to the partners.

Directed by Jess Barton, the timelines intertwine and the narration weaves into the mutual memories and last moments before the women's leap. She uses the space wisely, spreading the action to the stairs and splitting the stage into two. On the left, the pub where the unconventional wake happens; on the right, the cold and clinical waiting room on a raised platform. Constance Villemot's design is effective and works well with the textual structure.

Ekberg's script stumbles into overly lyrical and unnatural prose that clashes with the casual (if excessively explanatory) exchanges. The first project from Gingerbread Productions sets a high bar for the company when it comes to the engagement of their public's thoughts. There's plenty to reflect on, it isn't an easy piece.

Diversification runs at the Old Red Lion until 2 July.

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