The Stage

Looking for JJ

Published Wednesday 3 October 2007 at 12:00 by Kevin Berry

Anne Cassidy’s award-winning novel for teenagers could not be in better hands. Pilot Theatre’s staging is stunning.

JJ is Jennifer Jones, a teenager living under another identity. Years before she killed another child. The tabloid journalists are looking for JJ and one of them finds her. Wherever JJ goes next there will be someone looking for her.

The actors are on a low, square platform, angled as if gradually slipping off the stage. Behind are sliding gauze screens for video projections. The projections show JJ’s blog pages, past events and some eerily beautiful images of where the murder happened. Not that the production is overly filmic or cinematic. These images are fluid scenery and they show JJ’s emotional state.

Christina Baily as JJ seems to have a little too much narrative to deal with in the beginning, but there is no doubt she will rectify that. She has grasped the role thoroughly, revealing JJ’s acute loneliness and her acceptance that her life is forever shaped by the murder.

Davood Ghadami is convincing and effective in three quite different male parts. Everyone in the ensemble cast has a clearly identifiable physicality for each character. Melanie Ash, as a journalist and a probation officer, is a good example.

The Pilot people are way ahead with their grasp of new technology and its applications on a stage. They are widening the scope of theatre for young people and making the oldies sit up. It is as if someone has opened a door and a howling wind has swept in.