Sap by Rafaella Marcus – Summerhall, Edinburgh

Rafaella Marcus’ debut play is a tale set in modern London with ancient roots. Daphne (Jessica Clark) is bisexual, but finds herself in an increasingly complex situation with her new partner (Rebecca Banatvarla), who she had omitted to tell about her previous relationships with men. Meanwhile, she is seeing plants and trees growing inside houses, from the bus to work and in the office, which are apparently invisible to others. The myth of Daphne, the nymph who turned herself into a tree to escape Apollo’s attempted rape, begins to play itself out. The concept has potential, and the Roundabout’s bare, in-the-round stage is filled very effectively by director Jessica Lazar with nothing but the bodies of the two performers. The writing, however, falls short of its objectives. Clark works hard in her role but Daphne is a superficial and annoying character, speaking in a rush of cliches, but it is not clear this is the intended effect. The urban setting is also dominated by cliched tropes, such as lesbian poetry nights and anonymous Docklands apartment blocks, that don’t seem real. And the plot is stretched by the role of the creepy brother (also played by Banatvala, very well) whose motivations seem unlikely. It’s a promising debut that doesn’t quite succeed as intended.