Theatre review: Jellyfish

I didn't catch Ben Weatherill's Jellyfish when it premiered last year but Tim Hoare's production has been given a higher-profile second life, transferring from the Bush's Studio to the National's Dorfman for a brief run. Written specifically for its lead actress Sarah Gordy, Jellyfish approaches a subject that feels uncomfortably taboo - a romantic relationship in which one person has a learning disability - with such casual sweetness it soon feels nothing of the sort. But there's no denying that it's a relationship with a unique series of challenges as 27-year-old Kelly (Gordy,) who has Down's Syndrome, flirts with 30-year-old Neil (Siôn Daniel Young,) who doesn't have a disability. Despite his own reservations Neil realises that his feelings for Kelly are real, and that she's also deadly serious about wanting a relationship with him.

He persists despite abuse from people who liken what he's doing to paedophilia, while Kelly's mother Agnes (Penny Layden) also feels there must be something exploitative about the relationship and tries to put an end to it.

In reality things have gone even further than anyone realises, and soon everyone's dealing with the fact that Kelly is pregnant, with a 50/50 chance of passing her condition on to her baby, most likely in a much more severe form. In theory the central relationship raises questions over the extent to which someone with a learning disability can consent, but Gordy's performance quickly puts paid to that, making it clear that though a lot of day-to-day things are a struggle for her, one thing Kelly definitely does know is her own mind.

And Weatherill's matter-of-fact treatment of the story also contributes to the feeling that this should be treated as any other love story, as well as asking a few pointed questions. Such as why, in an attempt to make Kelly move on from Neil when she thinks she's broken them up, Agnes tries to set her daughter up with Dominic, a boy with Asperger's (Nicky Priest - as with Gordy, the production is careful to cast an actor with the same condition as the character.) Despite Agnes being a hugely sympathetic character who's dedicated her life to her daughter, there's something deeply patronising about the idea of attempting to set up a meet-cute between two people with different disabilities on the assumption that it'll satisfy their need for a relationship without much risk of it turning into anything too complicated.

Dominic may be a romantic dead end but he becomes a good friend to Kelly and frequent comic relief (including the show's funniest line, "sorry about my sense of humour, Mum says I'm about as funny as James Corden.") But the whole show is full of funny moments, and even though there's no pretending everything's going to be rosy at the end, Weatherill succeeds in his aim to present a love story that celebrates difference. Plus, although designer Amy Jane Cook has taken the opportunity of a larger stage to expand the play's world of a neglected Skegness beach, Hoare had kept the show blocked mostly downstage centre; which might seem unadventurous if it wasn't in a theatre with the Dorfman's sightlines, where it's more like the only way everyone can actually see the whole play.

Jellyfish by Ben Weatherill is booking until the 16th of July at the National Theatre's Dorfman.

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Helen Murray.