While more and more plays dealing with LGBTQ+-specific issues are being commissioned and staged, Sap is rare in explicitly dealing with bisexuality and the prejudice many bi people face from within the rest of the queer community. That it does so with such engaging, occasionally distressing grace and humanity is just one part of its charm. Marcus has crafted a play which speaks on many levels, and is effective on each. The fable in question is that of Apollo and Daphne. The first very much obsessed with the latter, who is prepared to do whatever is required to reject him. In the mythical version, the final solution to the unwanted attentions arrives from Daphne’s own parents, who turn her into a plant as soon as Apollo gets too close. In Rafaella Marcus’ modern interpretation, this transformation is more metaphorical – albeit described so vividly that we can’t tell where reality ends and gives space to imagination. The originality in Marcus’ exploration of bisexuality is fantastically complex. It centres on the experience of bisexual women and the fact that they are more likely to be abused by their partner than heterosexual or lesbian women – come the end, this is a fact that the play is open about starting an enlightening discussion on. 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. 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).

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. 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.Lazar has her kiss the soon-to-be girlfriend tenderly after having previously engaged in an intense balancing act with the man. It's a striking summary of Daphne's precarious equation. From the poetic elements of the writing and its visual allegories down to the staging and performances, Sap is a gem. 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. 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. Performer, Rebecca Banatvala, skillfully multi-roles as work colleague, girlfriend and guy. There’s a real symbiotic energy between the two performers who can with the flex of their bodies, or a single expression convey passion, fear, disappointment or distance. 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.

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. 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.Direct from a critically acclaimed run at Edinburgh Fringe, Atticist, Ellie Keel Productions and MAST Mayflower Studios present Rafaella Marcus’ debut play based on an old myth, about passion, power, and photosynthesis. RM: Yeah, because of where I am in my life. I got married recently, am thinking about having a family, and it gets to a point where you feel you love this job so much because when theatre is good there’s nothing else like it. But I do want to be able to live.

Rafaella Marcus is a 2021 MGCFutures bursary winner and JMK Award finalist. Her work as a writer & director focuses on new writing and bringing to the stage marginalised voices, especially women. She is currently developing new self-penned play Sap, and writing new audio drama for Big Finish TBA. From Atticist and Ellie Keel Productions, this hit play is a queer urban fable about bisexuality and what we allow people to believe, in a world where The Song of Achilles meets Killing Eve. Drawing inspiration from the myth of 'Daphne and Apollo', SAP is a contemporary, fast-paced thriller about passion, power, and photosynthesis.

Booking & Dates

Director Jessica Lazar places the audience in traverse, allowing Jessica Clark’s Daphne to narrate to one half of the audience, then turn to deliver a wry aside to the other. Her character navigates her attraction to a man she meets at a work, then to a woman she describes as a “goddess” at a lesbian bar – both played by Rebecca Banatvala. In each case, Clark’s delivery shows us a woman who is as confident in her sexuality as she is insecure about her attractiveness to other people. 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.