★★★★
J. E. N. (or Jen’s Evolution is Nigh) begins with a Tiktok video. Specifically, it begins with a parody of the Tiktok trend of ‘Get Ready With Me’ morning routine videos. This video sets a sharp, funny, incisive tone and provides context for what is to follow — a journey from 150,000 years ago to the year 2050.
The play is a series of comedic vignettes on the impact of human striving and consumerism. Moments of anachronistic language and storytelling heighten the comedy and poignancy as the play unfurls towards a potential end of the world.
From century to century each ‘Jen’ is in a dramatically different position, but many of her attitudes remain the same. Jen is practical, proud, hopeful and somewhat judgmental. There are certain threads that are followed as variations on the Tiktok morning routine, that play out across the centuries as a series of women begin their day. These include the desire for material objects, for a better position, for fulfilling work, wonder at the stars in the dark early-morning sky, and the changing circumstances of women in England and America.
The solo performer, Jennifer Kehl, directed by Rachel Ropella holds the space, bright and comical and just as touching as a neanderthal curled up under a fur pelt as an apocalypse survivor watching the sunrise. She incorporates physical theatre and mime, while time and place are indicated by one of the better uses of projection — a screen that scrolls year-by-year through history.
The underlying threats of climate crisis and manipulation of human impulse by those in power are seen through the eyes of individuals, none of whom have the whole picture. It creates dramatic irony, but it also asks us to consider what we don’t know and what we might be wrong about.
J.E.N is on at Paradise in the Vault till August 27th
Review by Merlin Stevens
