Short, sharp, and uncomfortable in the best way.
Jacob Ethan Tanner’s Nurture is a stirring psychological study. This original work follows a mother grieving the loss of her child, a journalist with a past of his own, and the man who set it all in motion. Centered on how our experiences shape us and where responsibility lies, it is a uniquely grim and honest work of theater. This is not a show for the faint of heart.
Sam Stafford delivered a haunting performance as ‘The Young Man’. His awkwardness paired perfectly with the disconcerting nature of his character. His portrayal was remarkably vulnerable while also being quite snarky and amusing. Miles Henderson as ‘The Journalist’ was powerful. One of the weak points of Nurture was its somewhat limited emotional impact but Henderson more than made up for it; his performance was brutally honest, making it truly moving. Gabi Martinez made her professional debut as ‘The Mother’, overworked and facing the loss of her child. While seemingly a gifted actress, her performance was off putting; her detached, apathetic characterization did not work and seemed all the worse next to the powerhouse performances of the other two actors.
There were no fancy costumes or sets; it was just three actors, a chair, and the occasional lighting change or sound effect. This simplicity actually improved the show. It enabled the audience to really focus on the characters and what they were saying without being distracted by any extras. The intimate theatre space also helped, allowing the audience to feel drawn in and making Stafford’s breaks of the fourth wall all the more noticeable. The characters and story of Nurture bring Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to mind. Like Frankenstein’s monster, ‘The Young Man’ seems to observe human society from the outside, struggling to understand or be a part of it. When he does interact, despite thinking he’s doing the right thing, he frightens and harms people. At its’ root, Tanner’s story is very simple but the perspectives he’s chosen to portray demonstrate a complex understanding of human beings and suffering. His writing style is mostly very natural but does, at times, lean too much into the spectacular as though in search of that memorable line that’ll stick with the audience for years. While that one line didn’t come through, there is a particularly graphic murder depiction which will stick in my mind simply for its brutality. Nurture reaches to the root of the human psyche and pulls out more questions than it answers.