There is an unexpected inversion in Katy Nixon’s two-hander that creates a special tension. When we meet her, Kyla MacDougall has a frightening self-assurance. Played by Yolanda Mitchell, she is teasing, provocative and mercurial. It is all her nerdy classmate Jamie Sheldon can do to answer in complete sentences. Played by Testimony Adegbite, he is cautious and scared.
It turns out he is not the only one. The more Kyla threatens Jamie, the more it becomes apparent that, while he is trapped in a tough corner, the real victim is her. Jamie has witnessed a sexual assault at a party and is earnestly committed to telling the truth. Kyla wants him to retract his police statement. If he claims to have lied, he will take the pressure off her friends, Ryan, Stevo and Paulie, teenagers under the influence of online misogyny. She, in turn, will win their favour.
