Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Swallow the Lake

 
Paul T. Davies Review by Paul T. Davies 4 Published: 10 Oct 2025 Mercury Theatre Show Dates: 2 Oct 2025-11 Oct 2025

This latest Mercury Original continues the excellent support the venue has given to writers in bringing their work to the stage. Tessa Deparis’s effective play Swallow the Lake, produced in association with HighTide, is powerful in its gentleness.

Yasmin Hafesji’s sensitive direction honours the fragility of the piece

Joanna and Joseph have just relocated to a quiet town in Essex with their young children and are hosting their first dinner party. Beautifully structured, what follows is a series of flashbacks, from when they first met as children, returning to the dinner party and its aftermath. Yasmin Hafesji’s sensitive direction honours the fragility of the piece, as Joanna has suppressed the racism endured by her and her family, and those racist voices are becoming louder as she struggles to hold on to a stable life.

The play is beautifully performed, not least by Lydia Bakelmun as Joanna, skilfully showing the danger and disrespect she receives, even though she is a doctor. Her stillness is the power of the performance: even when you may want her to shout louder, it is her dignity that is maintained as her world begins to unravel. Matt Jewson as Joseph matches her perfectly with a realistic portrayal of a man who doesn’t understand how his wife’s silence is undermining their relationship, and together they convincingly portray the pair as children and adolescents. Liam Bull multi-roles with ease, crystallising both casual and deep-seated racism, and Krupa Pattani is excellent as sassy female friends still unable to grasp Joanna’s attitude and shyness.

William Hamilton Tighe’s elegant design adds to the nuances of the piece, and the action flows seamlessly from one scene to another, the themes becoming clearer as the play progresses. Perhaps occasionally Joanna’s anger and distress could be heightened, but the damaging effects of internalising racism – of accepting a standard of abuse just to survive – are powerfully conveyed.

When Joanna reveals what happened to her brother, the title of the play is brought into crystal-clear focus. It’s a powerful piece that shows the lake of the title is racism itself.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

“There are things that make me look at you anew”. 

Joanna and Joseph have just relocated to a quiet town in Essex with their young children. When they host their first dinner party in their new home, an old story resurfaces – along with a word that never should have been said. What follows is a rupture. A single moment reverberates through years of trust, affection, and silence, shaking the very foundation of their relationship.

In the wreckage, we are pulled back – back to their first meeting, to a shared childhood shaped by army barracks and English hillsides. Together, we march through memory and time, tracing the thread of their connection from innocence through complexity, loyalty, love and all that lies between.

Can a lifelong friendship survive the cracks in the country that raised it?

This world premiere production is in association with HighTide. Developed during the Mercury Playwrights programme in collaboration with Paines Plough’s Tour the Writer, this new play by Tassa Deparis is in response to the Summer 2024 riots and protests. It is directed by Yasmin Hafesji.

Content to Consider

This show is 16+, and contains references to racism, reference to death and use of strong language.