Theatre review: Raising Martha

Animal rights as a metaphor for human rights in Raising Martha, David Spicer's black comedy that throws a lot into the mix and gets varied results. Gerry (Stephen Boxer) runs a farm that breeds frogs for vivisection; as a result it's a target for animal rights protesters, and following violent attacks Gerry's all but barricaded himself in. The latest attack is a personal one: Marc (Tom Bennett) and Jago (Joel Fry) have dug up the bones of his dead mother, and are holding them hostage, to be returned if the farm is sold to an animal charity. Gerry's brother Roger (Julian Bleach) has returned to help with the crisis, but all the brothers do is argue about whether or not to sell. Meanwhile the increased police presence at the farm isn't entirely welcome, as Gerry has diversified into growing marijuana laced with hallucinogenic toad.

Theatre review: An Incident at the Border

The basic premise of An Incident at the Border is so simple it feels as if it should be the basis for a well-known absurdist classic, but Kieran Lynn's one-act play is actually getting its world premiere in the Finborough's Sunday-Monday slot. A young couple, Arthur and Olivia (Tom Bennett and Florence Hall) are enjoying a lazy day feeding the ducks in the park, when a Border Guard (Marc Pickering) arrives with a roll of tape. Their country has just been divided in two, and the new border runs right through the park bench they're sitting on. Unfortunately this means Arthur has not only ended up in a different country to his girlfriend, he's technically in a hostile foreign country, without any identification papers, and it could take years before there's even a procedure in place for him to legally cross the line back home.