Not Your Life follows Jacob (Yalim Danisman), who returns from war to find that his best-friend (Rian Cash) and his best-friends' wife (Lucy Clifton) have made a life for themselves in the house Jacob used to call home. What entails is an exploration of the jealousies and fractures within the trio, as they bubble to the surface after years of repression.
A story conceived by Yalim Danisman (writer and performer) and Ege Kucucuk (director), Not Your Life is performed at the Etcetera Theatre, a small but formidable pub theatre. The Etcetera is a successful catalyst for developing talent. Spaces like this are increasingly rare (the loss of Vault Festival, for example, still casts a shadow) and it is great to see venues providing a platform for up-and-coming talent.
Not Your Life is an intimate and varied portrait of relationships, be it as friends, enemies or lovers. All the unfolding drama is against the backdrop of the residual trauma of warfare and childhood. Not Your Life also serves as a perceptive study into the capricious nature male friendship; the struggles and competitiveness that often underlines (and undermines) them. The play has moments that seem to highlight a uniquely masculine "ability" to go years without seeing each other, or fall into small-talk after a serious argument, as if nothing ever happened. Not Your Life is at is best when describing male emotional repression.
You do have to work slightly to piece together a backstory and gain a sense of location. Some details (like the fact that Jacob's father was a skiing coach) could have been established a little more clearly and earlier. Where plot points are hinted at, it is incredibly effective. Cash's character pensively looks over some papers before discreetly hiding them away, as the play progresses we discover the papers are a major contract he wants Jacob to sign.
One truly haunting moment of the play is where we see Jacob seduce the wife: she squirms in disgust as he wraps his arms around her, before she ultimately relents. Her fear to act against Jacob returns towards the end of the play, and is a suggestion not just of Jacob's control, but perhaps also a more deliberate willingness to go along with his plans. It is clear she is torn between a life with her husband and a life with Jacob.
Perhaps it is the hypnotism of the Irish accent, but Riain Cash is a real stand out. His performance is incredibly charismatic, and he appears the most engrossed in the role. Across the board however, there is still the room to really convey the intensity of the material: gesticulate, raise voices, and make full use of the stage just that bit more. Not Your Life deserves to take itself seriously, and should not allow itself to feel constrained. In its current stylistic state I wonder if it would translate better to the screen than the stage.
The dialogue in the early scenes is rather witty, with many of the arguments characterised by a funny awkwardness/cringeworthy-ness, reminiscent of some of Taika Waititi's early films (I mean this all as a compliment). Conflict either interspersed with niceties about the meal tasting great, or occurring over the top of lift music is something I personally found hilarious.
Despite no vast budget to hide behind, Not Your Life well exceeds expectations, providing a raw, captivating dissection of complex relationship dynamics. ★★★★☆
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