As the first production of Chase the Crane, a company with its origins in East 15’s Contemporary Theatre Course, Ink is very impressive indeed.Blending seamless choreography, professional staging and great performances from every single member of the cast, this excellent piece of new writing is a triumph.A lonely and vulnerable woman, accustomed to abusive relationships, struggles to bring up her two children in the shadow of her broken marriage. When she starts writing to a criminal on death row in Texas, her joyless life is transformed and, with it, her relationships with those closer to home. Tackling difficult subject matter in a sensitive and intelligent way, one of this show’s greatest strengths is its writing. Never seeming far-fetched or melodramatic, the script’s clever use of flashback encourages us to reserve judgment throughout, keeping us guessing about the true dynamic of the controversial romance. Above all, the characters are realistic and well-crafted. The abrasive cop is a particularly effective device, raising questions about authority with his mix of accurate emotional analysis, judgmental scorn and hypocritical misogyny. Wonderful performances, especially from Helen - whose encroaching misery is played out with great subtlety - ensure that none of the emotional depth of the script is lost. What makes the production truly special is its attention to detail. The expert staging and choreography heightens the drama and allows for a complicated chronology, with scene changes between the Texas jail and the prison of Helen’s isolated home life effected by sudden switches in the quality of light. A particular highlight was the scene in which the protagonists fall in love, portrayed by letters flooding the stage to be snatched up with increasing desperation with the passing of time. Successfully raising big questions with a début production as visually compelling as it is well-acted, Ink ticks every box.
