Theatre review: Sting

Sophie Swithinbank's Sting draws parallels between the modern-day collusion of men and institutions against women experiencing abuse, and the historical persecution of women accused of witchcraft, through a pair of women conducting an academic study on just that subject: Lily (Phoebe Ladenburg) is a university lecturer specialising in the history of witch hunts, attempting to digitise a unique archive of cases and evidence. She hires a part-time assistant to help speed up the process, but doesn't get quite what she bargained for. Ash (Adelle Leonce) is qualified, educated and well-versed in the subject, but she hides it all a bit too well under hectic first impressions: She arrives for her first shift still drunk and exhausted from the night before's clubbing session, and just as she starts to settle in has a miscarriage.

After a shaky start her new boss quickly warms to her though, and starts to worry about the young woman. Her behaviour's erratic and she frequently comes in with bruises, and Lily suspects her policeman boyfriend Dom (Nick Blood.)

Nancy Medina's production doesn't lack for energy and a sense of unease - as well as the increasing suspicion that Ash is being abused at home, there's a subplot about a potential serial killer case, which Lily has been called in to consult on because of the possible ritual element she's an expert on. There's also the undertone of witchcraft, and little hints - like the omnipresent buzzing of bees, or a radio in the archive that keeps turning itself on to news stories connected to their research - that the story could take on a more literal connection to the supernatural.

Additionally, as Lily starts to worry about Ash being controlled by an obsessive boyfriend, there's the suggestion that her own interest in her assistant may be getting a bit unhealthy. Where Sting is most successful is in the portrayal of Ash herself, with Leonce really impressively selling the mix of obvious damage, and panicked energy that the woman uses to try and get herself through life.

Where it falters though is in pulling all of these potential threads together. Don't get me wrong, as a straightforward story of a woman caught up in a cycle of abuse this is truly affecting and brutal, and the reveal of how Ash and Dom met is something of a minor twist that gives an added layer of depth to the characterisation of both. But the regular hints that this might not be quite the story it appears to be leaves you waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when it doesn't it leaves you hanging.

(Slight disclaimer, my being underwhelmed by the ending might be partly down to the performance being interrupted with half an hour to go by a very lengthy technical error, when the aircon failed to clear the dry ice properly, it set off an alarm and in turn made the house lights malfunction. After 15 minutes of being told there was no need to get up because it'd only be a minute, half the audience decided we should probably go to the loo in case we were there all night. Maybe next time instead of a trigger warning for haze just use... a bit less haze.)

(Also, for this show the entrance to the Maria is outdoors on The Cut, but not the door marked Door 8 where everyone was queuing up; no, the completely unmarked door just behind the bar.)

Sting by Sophie Swithinbank is booking until the 18th of July at the Young Vic's Maria.

Running time: Advertised as 1 hour 30 minutes straight through; tonight ran 1 hour 55 minutes.

Photo credit: Helen Murray.