Actor Antonella Axisa has her work cut out in this hour-long play. Not only is it practically a monologue, but she has to strip naked, get dressed and undressed several times, simulate onanism and sex, and assume endless differing moods throughout. It is more a stream of conciousness than a story, but it centres on a Muslim woman, Janet, who has apparently detonated a bomb within a community and then tells her story from her bed, where she cannot sleep. The play is a confusion of ideas which purport to be about a conflict between Islam, Christianity and secularism. This fundamental issue is made shallow and obvious, portrayed by barely more than a voice-over of Hail Marys and Janet's hijab, which is sometimes turned into a nun's wimple. There is a priest (Marc Forde) to whom Janet makes advances, before forcing him to listen to her confession. This is the climax of the play, following some heated one-sided exchanges between Janet and her imaginary husband.

After Janet has revealed her shocking secret (other than bombing innocent people) she and the priest have a stand-off and he ends up dead. But that's not before the most nonsensical episode in the 'stream', where she pulls out handfuls of hand-grenades from a sleeping bag that is standing in for the husband - and throws them at the invisible man. As Janet confronts what she has done at the end of the play, lights flash in random succession - just in case the audience has not worked out that what they have been watching is 'surreal'. Antonella Axisa can finally have a break. For all her sterling efforts, this is less The Wrong Sleep - more the wrong play.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Antonella Axisa - Janet. Marc Forde - Priest.

Company Credits: Writer - Mary Mazzilli. Director - Sharon Enav. Producer - Agnes Costa-Correa. Set Design - Lucy Wonfor. Sound Design - Simon Duff. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer - uncredited. Company - Educated Guess.

END

(c) Bo wilson 2008

reviewed Friday 15 August 08 / Etcetera Theatre, London

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com