“Temporarily opening their relationship causes Sadie and Will to spiral”
One in six Brits would consider an open relationship: where both partners agree to pursue romantic or sexual experiences outside the couple. The Experiment’s title alludes to this decision for Sadie (Larissa Crafford-Lazarus) and Will (George Solomou), hoping to make a long-distance relationship more bearable while Sadie teaches abroad. They’ve written a contract agreeing terms – always wear a condom; no overnight stays – and signed on the dotted line. But upon Sadie’s return, a revelation from one of Will’s hook-ups causes her to re-evaluate the relationship and her own identity. The result is a suspenseful – if overlong – exploration of relationships, memory, and sexual assault.
The Experiment’s most compelling moments examine the reality of open relationships, with an engrossing opening scene where Sadie and Will design their contract and check both are ok with it. A clever script drops the audience into a fully-formed, emotionally layered dynamic, and it has the confidence to not over-explain, letting the audience work things out for themselves. Sadie and Will are an endearing couple – stopping their serious conversations for an impromptu staring contest – and strong performances make their interactions feel 3-dimensional and real.
These lengthy scenes are well-punctuated by short, snappy voicemails acted out in scene transitions. Presented outside of the show’s timeline, the ambiguity – of when they are being recorded and who their intended recipient is – adds delicious suspense to The Experiment’s early scenes.
Surprisingly, once Will’s hookup Nisha – played with great intensity by Ayse Babahan, who is an excellent monologuer – the longer scenes lose much of their intensity. It is interesting to explore how each character’s memory has been shaped by how they feel about events, and to work out who to trust. But narratively, Sadie’s prolonged failure to confront the issue strains believability, befriending Nisha while immediately accepting Will’s explanation of events. There are satisfying dramatic pay-offs to these contradictions, but they happen much later in the story, by which point Sadie’s reactions feel hollowed of their moral weight. One can’t help but think a good editor could cut this middle section down drastically.
Later scenes suggest Sadie’s inconsistency stems from feeling split in two by Nisha’s revelation, but the factors driving this don’t manifest in their interactions – Nisha doesn’t push to find out whether Sadie believes her, and Will isn’t particularly forceful in his opinions. An LED crack running through the stage physically captures this duality, leading to an effective scene where Sadie is pulled from one side to the other as two moments play out at once, but the emotional resonance of that duality doesn’t always land in the writing itself.
A 32-degree heatwave may have diminished this evening’s audience, but those who braved the sweltering Northern line were treated to a richly textured and thought-provoking interrogation of modern relationships. While The Experiment could be made punchier and more impactful, its exploration of contemporary intimacy remains compelling.