'Sting' review — witchcraft and police corruption collide in Sophie Swithinbank's topical new play

Read our review of Sting, now in performances at the Young Vic to 18 July.

Summary

• Sting is playing in the Young Vic's Maria Studio
• The show is focused on the occult; police corruption and domestic abuse
• The three-hander stars Nick Blood; Phoebe Ladenburg and Adelle Leonce

Sophie Swithinbank’s blazing drama Sting is a fascinating swirl of ideas focused on the occult, police corruption, and domestic abuse.

The show has all the makings of a taut thriller: archive assistant Ash (an always engaging Adelle Leonce) begins working alongside new, uptight boss Lily (Phoebe Ladenburg) on her research into women killed for their association with witchcraft in the late 17th century. The historic cases take on powerful modern-day relevance when the pair assist in an active police investigation into the deaths of three women.

But there is something else going on here. Ash’s possessive partner Dom — a police officer — takes issue with her newfound interest in work, as well as the intimacy developing between her and Lily. An aggressive hickey on Ash’s neck is the first sign that her sexually charged relationship is tinged with violence, developing into bruises that bloom on her wrists, ankles, torso, and arms.

These narrative threads of female abuse across centuries are reflected in Debbie Duru’s simple yet striking traverse stage. The set acts like a mirror: at one end, stacked boxes contain Lily’s research into historic abuse; at the other, Ash’s possessions sit in boxes waiting to be unpacked at Dom’s flat.

Allusions to witchcraft are peppered throughout Nancy Medina’s production, from Ash’s satanic burning of her scented candle, to her attachment to rabbit Pan (named after a dæmon), seizures, and even a traumatic early miscarriage at the start of the play. They add to a production that already feels hard to pin down, particularly as the show reaches its denouement and frustratingly loses focus.

Certain dramatic techniques feel heavy-handed, such as when the three characters speak over one another, switching between accuser and accused. Others are used effectively, including a sex scene between Ash and Dom at the archive, when they conceal themselves behind a frosted glass door and smoke fills the stage, as Ryan Day’s lighting turns a bloody red.

The two women are the most interesting part of this production. Leonce’s Ash is a live wire, unpredictable and bewitching, who switches between childlike vulnerability, cradling her pet rabbit, and manic displays of elation. She makes a nice foil to Ladenburg’s highly strung Lily, who experiences her own awakening with Ash’s arrival. Ladenburg is burdened with much of Swithinbank’s expositional script, including her thoughts on the injustices of our police system, which makes her character less engaging than Leonce’s Ash.

In comparison, Nick Blood’s Dom feels more one-dimensional as the police officer hiding a violent streak. He ticks off all the tropes of aggressor, switching between rage and contrition, and love-bombing Ash with big displays, including a trip to Morocco. When Ash takes a blow to the face, the moment is hard to watch in the intimate confines of the Young Vic’s Maria Studio.

Swithinbank’s play is full of great ideas about our flawed justice system and our long history of demonising women, but for the show to have a true sting, it requires more focus.

Sting is at the Young Vic to 18 July. Book Sting tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Sting (Photos by Helen Murray)