Lately I have not been as diligent as I could in following the work of writer debbie tucker green. She was one of those folk that I thought I had the measure of, and did not feel a need to reinvestigate without hearing of significant development. Even the acclaim given to her generations (which I did not see) and random (which I did, and greatly admired) did not sway me. I see now that while I have been lazily ignoring her, green has grown from a writer whose earnestness with regard to great issues often overwhelmed the humanity of her vision into one who allows the weighty matters to emerge organically from her characters.
    
nut may, at a guess, be related to the film second coming which green has written and directed, and which is currently in post-production: both star Nadine Marshall (who also performed the solo piece random), both seem to be related to women’s mental health in and around family environments. In nut, our perspective on Marshall’s character Elayne shifts from a first act of animated chat (in the contemporary urban sense) with friend-figures Aimee and Devon to a third act of anxious subjugation with her younger sister on a weekly visit. Elayne is, we infer, on medication for some psychological condition, and given to self-harm.
    
No single character’s perspective is trustworthy: we have already seen, in the intervening second act, Elayne’s sister’s argumentative but addictive relationship with her own ex-husband, and as for those friends and the son-figure who have both bolstered and subtly undermined Elayne earlier, they may be no more than figments. We are left to choose the elements and shading of our own picture of the situation; the only thing we know for certain is that no dazzling cure or solution of any kind is in the offing, rather we must carry Elayne’s problems home with us and mull them ourselves. green’s direction is masterly: nothing is pushed, and the overlapping dialogue of Marshall, Sophie Stanton, Anthony Welsh and Sharlene Whyte may well be the most natural I have heard on a stage. green’s work is never an easy or a diverting watch, but it is – I now recognise – deeply concerned, caring and powerful. She is too good to shy away from.

Written for the Financial Times.