Time Out
Helena Thompson
30 April - 7 May 2003, Issue 1706

Little known Australian playwright Van Badham has something refreshingly universal to say. Whether set in Wollongong or Milton Keynes, her terse two-handers champion human rights with gratifying conviction. Despite a low-budget set, the three plays currently showcasing the 27-year-old's talent turn the Old Red Lion's tiny stage into a forum for political debate.

A space about the size of a kitchen, bedroom or small office becomes all these things for a two-interval bill of three bite-sized dramas. First up is Kitchen, which premiered at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in 2001 and sets human resource managers against each other in a blisteringly violent war of the sexes. In her programme notes to this domestic drama of black humour, Badham expresses hope that "these bastards will destroy each other before they kill us all" - and her wrath extends to the protagonists of Capital, a satire on businessmen's greed which offers a cynical view of the capitalist work ethic. Sandwiched between these two bitter plays is a gentler study in the etiquette of modern romance, entitled Morning on a Rainy Day

Young company nabokov claim to promote new talent that has had no formal training. This is not quite true given that some of the actors' credits include the Nottingham Playhouse and the National Theatre. The real delight is Badham's keen eye for the power games that underpin relationships. She fuses personal problems with global concerns in plays that voice a generation's anger. Not receiving the recognition she deserves has only sharpened her edge.