THEATRE REVIEW: Bubble ★★★★

Bubble 
Nottingham Playhouse
Friday 23rd - Saturday 24th October 2020

From a survey taken back in April, at the height of Lockdown, it was stated that only 18% of married couples were satisfied with their communication between their partners. In James Graham's latest outing 'Bubble', Morgan George (Jessica Raine) and Ashleigh Parks (Pearl Mackie) may not have have this same issue, or they might, it's just the way that Graham toys with the idea of two visions, Bubble and Apart, that leaves us as the audience to contend with which one we are more satisfied ourselves to see this newly formed couple contend with.

Throwing it right back to March, when the lockdown was announced, Ashley has been made redundant from her Micropub, and Morgan has been sent home from her teaching job, with the two measuring up whose apartment they should stay in, if they are going to choose each other as their bubble partner, that comes with some hilarity in throwbacks for ourselves that remember the days of the HouseParty app, and the new vocab of Zoom and Covid that now ultimately rule our lives. 

For a piece that is solely a two-hander, Raine and Mackie are both a delight on stage, showcasing some real passion and tenderness to their performances, where the direction has allowed them both to run free with their emotions that catapult them into scenerios that we have all been familiar with or have played on our minds; from the alternative timelines, a moment of rash decisions leaves a controversial tweet to split the couple in half, with political views being tested against the others employability, and this moment is one that mirrors so much of what we have personally gone through this past year.

Overall, whilst Bubble is truly a piece of theatre that will most likely stick more with those who have had to face the relationship struggles over the past seven months, it still finds its place in giving the whole audience a time to reflect on the weird and wonderful moments that we have become accustomed to in our current self, with dialogue that flows from the page with the help of stellar performances from it's two leads.