The stage itself is in traverse, with no stage setting and minimal use of props. The ability to look over and see the other side of the audience, almost becoming included, helps to aid the diary nature of Clark’s monologue. Clever lighting and sound is enough to capture where the story is taking place each time. They complement the rhythmic-like script, creating meaningful beats and pauses which only add to the rising tension of the storyline. Marcus’ script is full of metaphors and lyrical lines, at times it does feel slightly too metaphorical, perhaps due to the short run time of 70 minutes and how dialogue heavy these parts of the script are. I also would have preferred a solid and more satisfying ending to the play. Jessica Lazar’s direction is faultless, allowing the performances to be at the forefront of the production and ensuring the momentum is sustained throughout. The asides to the audience are a great touch and make Daphne more personable, although there are moments where these feel slightly uneven, as though one-half of the audience can see her facial expressions, and the other half is not. Credit: David Monteith-Hodge Rafaella Marcus is a 2021 MGCFutures bursary winner and JMK Award Finalist, whose work focuses on bringing marginalised voices to the stage, especially women. SAP is produced by 11-time Offie-nominated Atticist, whose previous production Life According to Saki won the Carol Tamber Best of Edinburgh Award, and by Ellie Keel, the Founder Director of the Women's Prize for Playwriting, who this year was shortlisted as Producer of the Year in the Stage Awards, and has added SAP to her roster of hit shows including Collapsible by Margaret Perry, HOTTER and FITTER by Mary Higgins and Ell Potter, and Reasons You Should(n't) Love Me by Amy Trigg. The production is designed by by Rūta Irbīte with lighting design by David Doyle, Composition and Sound Design by Tom Foskett-Barnes, and Movement Direction by Jennifer Fletcher. Tour Dates

Rafaella Marcus’ first full length play, directed by Jessica Lazar, for Atticist, and Ellie Keel productions, is a dazzling debut. The whole thing is performed in seventy minutes, with just two performers, outdoors in a tent at the Summerhall in Edinburgh. All of which just adds satisfying layers to this complex and thought provoking theatrical experience. At its simplest, SAP is a modern retelling of the Apollo and Daphne myth. SAP manages to retain the love and predatory desire of the original, as well as the tragedy. Performers Jessica Clark (as Daphne) and Rebecca Banatvala (playing all the other roles) are riveting as the pursuing, and the pursued. Greek myths told in a new way is a perennially popular choice for playwrights. What makes Rafaella Marcus’ retelling so intriguing is that SAP confronts human sexuality in non binary forms, and in a very contemporary way. The language of SAP is rich and evocative. Metaphors are used lavishly, which suits the method of presentation — that of an extended monologue told by Daphne, and short scenes with two characters that round out the story when needed. Plants are described as images of transformation, but these are not gentle or passive examples of vegetable life. In the character of Daphne, Marcus explores the idea of metamorphosis as a metaphor for bisexuality as well. In the first of several unexpected plot twists, we discover that Daphne’s lovers are brother and sister. She has a casual fling with the brother, then meets the sister, and the two fall passionately in love. But Daphne’s lover is unsympathetic to the idea of bisexuality, and Daphne gets trapped in the first of several lies as she has to hide who she really is. When she meets her male lover again at a family wedding where both siblings are present, the meeting is catastrophic. There is so much for a couple of talented performers to work with in SAP. Jessica Clark and Rebecca Banatvala are more than up to the challenge. Banatvala takes on the supporting roles, including those of the rival brother and sister. But the play begins and ends with Clark’s non binary character Daphne. Jessica Lazar’s luminous direction allows plenty of room for the performers to transform their bodies, and our imaginations, using the vivid language of Marcus’ script. Banatvala’s ability to shift character with the twitch of an eyebrow or shrug of a shoulder, is particularly breathtaking to watch. But the energy that drives the whole comes from Clark as Daphne. The production is complete and satisfying, and that includes costumes and set (Rūta Irbīte) and the work of sound designer and composer Tom Foskett-Barnes. Catch this production while you can in Edinburgh—and hope that it gets produced elsewhere, and soon. RAFAELLA MARCUS’ DEBUT DRAMA TAKES AN ANCIENT STORY AND MAKES IT BOX FRESH’ – Lyn Gardner, The Stage Fresh from a critically acclaimed run at Edinburgh and with The Plaines Plough, Marcus’s debut is also a Soho Playhouse winner of Excellence in Theatre. Sap is an enlightening, thought provoking drama that explores with maturity the nature of trust, truth, control and cohesion as well as the complexities of contemporary relationships. Sap is a loose adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a tale of Apollo and Daphne – where Apollo’s obsession becomes increasingly intense and concerning. In the original tale, Daphne’s parents turn her into a plant whenever Apollo comes close. However, in Rafaella Marcus’ debut play Sap at Summerhall, this is reimagined metaphorically and the tale itself is grounded in modern sensibilities.Designed by Rūta Irbīte with lighting design by David Doyle, Composition and Sound Design by Tom Foskett-Barnes, and Movement Direction by Jennifer Fletcher, the production marks the first return of Atticist to the festival since 2016. Her counterpart, Rebecca Banatvala, effectively multi-roles as every other character, most notably the girlfriend and ‘the guy’. She is able to produce such distinctive characters with only minor changes in body language and voice. The characters are likeable too, people we are familiar with, these aren’t archetypes, making it all the more sinister as the story progresses. They’re toxic in their own way, the script able to understand the nuance and subtlety of being able to use a lie to maintain power, without coming across as a villain from the beginning. The two work incredibly well together, whilst Banatvala plays the supporting role, her presence commands so much attention. How many men?" asks Daphne's girlfriend. An accusation more than a query, one many bisexual women have heard when they're entering a same-sex relationship. Rafaella Marcus pinpoints the eternal bisexual struggle in Sap , which has come to London after a starry sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe last year. She explores prejudice and stereotype, fetishisation and biphobia through a precise commentary wrapped into a viscerally poetic tale. When Daphne lies by omission, she accidentally and nonconsensually enters a dark, twisted game. The signs of trouble set in when her new girlfriend says that she will not date a bisexual woman, and Daphne chooses to hide her sexuality. Marcus has Daphne play this as a convenience, a white lie that she will eventually confess to – until her girlfriend and her one-night stand are revealed to have a connection to one another. After being awarded a Stage Edinburgh Award for her performance, Jessica Clark (Versailles, BBC2/ Canal+; The Wife of Willesden, Kiln Theatre; Rotterdam, Trafalgar Studios) will return for the Soho Theatre run and UK Tour of contemporary fast-paced thriller SAP. Clark stars alongside Rebecca Banatvala (Much Ado About Nothing, RSC; The Princess Switch 3, Netflix; The Syndicate, BBC).

A contemporary fast-paced thriller with ancient roots, SAP is directed by Offie-nominated Jessica Lazar (Anna Bella Eema, Arcola Theatre; Outlying Islands, King’s Head Theatre; Dangerous Giant Animals, Edinburgh Fringe/United Solo Fest New York/Park Theatre). This debut play by Rafaella Marcus is a queer urban fable about bisexuality and what we allow people to believe. Director Jessica Lazar makes a stage that is kept entirely bare seem busy. Clark paces in circles as she reels through her story. In the stifling standoff between Daphne and her chaser, the empty space between them raises the tension. Presented by Atticist and Ellie Keel Productions, this is a glorious tapestry of a play. Produced by: Atticist, Ellie Keel Productions & MAST Mayflower Studios, in association with 45NorthBreffni Holahan in Collapsible by Margaret Perry at the Edinburgh fringe in 2013. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/the Guardian Rebecca Bantvala portrays both the girlfriend and the girlfriend’s brother with absolute conviction. Using subtle touches of persona, which become more evident as the play progresses, it is an absolute gem of a role played to perfection. There’s a vicious circle because if you tend towards safer programming, you actually double down on the audience that you already have. You’re going with what’s tried and tested. You are de facto not inviting new people. I have accidentally built this lifeline of writing so it’s something that I am able to take into other mediums within a creative industry. I work other jobs so I can exist in this industry, where there are not enough jobs for the number of people who want to be in it, essentially. Jessica Clark plays this Daphne with a frantic edge – the character’s need to please makes words catapult out of her before she has time to think them through. Clark also does a remarkable job of finding light and shade in a text that is dense but has might. Centring on the experiences of bisexual women, who are significantly more likely than heterosexual and lesbian women to be abused by their partner, it blends the past with the reality of the present. Peppered with artful what-could-have-been moments and self-aware sides, this mammoth story is squeezed skilfully into 70 minutes – and for the most part, it drives.

The common semantics of trees appear throughout; the title itself and recurring themes of roots, planting her in the ground. Mentions of decay and trees overtaking a house, almost like nature is overtaking. These moments, along with more conversation-like script work well together, the poetic descriptions of her being ‘rooted’ into the ground in fear help the audience understand her psyche. Moreso, they help her deal with what is going on, she’s able to distance herself from the situation and focus on what her body is feeling- almost like a defence mechanism. RM: I know it’s been said before but I don’t think I ever want to stop saying it: there’s been enormous pressure on freelancers. I have been in several meetings recently with theatres who have expressed an interest in my work and those conversations have come down to me being asked “Do you have a great producer we could co-produce with?” or “Do you have connections with other theatres we could co-produce with?” or “Do you have a celebrity who you have a good relationship with?” Rafaella Marcus has produced such a beautiful and complex script, conversational, poetic, funny and emotional, all in the space of an hour. The actors are incredible at bringing it to life in a way that makes it feel a real privilege to be a part of the audience. Jessica Clark and Rebecca Banatvala reprise their performances with brand new vigour. Directed by Jessica Lazar, Marcus's debut play defies genres: part romantic drama, part psychological thriller, part queer cautionary tale, it's thoroughly gripping. Clark is utterly magnetic in her internal conflict as she is engaging in the lighter, more sardonic exploration of the push and pull of Daphne's sexual orientation. She controls Lazar's traverse, guided by a script that flows with introspective eloquence, perfectly in tune with the comic side even during the darkest points of the show.Paines Plough’s Roundabout is an experience in itself. A 168-seat theatre in the round with 3 stage entrances. SAP utilises all the strengths of the theatre in the solid director hands of Jessica Lazar and the award-winning Atticist Theatre company. Work as Assistant Director includes: Pericles (Shakespeare’s Globe), Romeo and Juliet, The Wind in the Willows (Chester Performs), Boeing Boeing, Afterplay, Love Your Soldiers, The Winter’s Tale (Sheffield Theatres), and The Killing of Sister George (Arts Theatre). There is a tough truth with theatre and art in general that it has never been able to wash its own face, or exist as a purely commercial venture. It has actually always required more money going into it than will come out. So art must be subsidised to exist, which means that decisions to cut government funding for art are ideological. A white lie Daphne told to her partner about not being attracted to men spirals out of control, and is used against her. The play becomes frantic, with Daphne, to no avail, trying to untangle herself out of the situation she has found herself into. Nature is used as a metaphorical device in Daphne’s monologues as she suffocates from the situation. Sap is difficult to watch in terms of subject matter, but it’s also difficult not to take your eyes off it in terms of performance. On the reflective floors, Clark and Marcus both present sensitivity in their characters but easily provide the dramatic intensity some of the scenes demand. From the 1st few moments of SAP you know you’re in for some incredibly engaging theatre. Jessica Clarke’s top-notch performance reaches out and grips everyone in the audience. The 1st section of the play is very relatable and delivered with a comedy twinkle. The later sections demanding depths of emotions that are both conflicting and powerful.