Handle It

Handle It is a one act play written and performed by Laura Jackson. It is a fascinating exploration of how Generation Y interacts with the internet and the nexus of intimacy and publicity, showing how badly things can go wrong after one night.  Laura Jackson shows us seven different characters, each with different views and attitudes, and giving a variety of judgment and compassion. 

The digital projections designed by Brendon Wong are an essential part of how the narrative unfolds and helps to immerse the audience in the digital panic and gossip. Sound design and music add to the atmosphere.

At the core of the play are the humans, though. Laura Jackson quickly establishes the different people, showing how they have come to have a part in the sad story of Kelsey Armitage after her compromising photos are leaked onto Facebook. Particularly affecting are Alexa Armitage, Kelsey’s older sister who is protective but wonders how this came about, and Jane Draper, Kelsey’s younger step-sister. James Davis, the young university student is foul-mouthed, casual about the photos, and gives a rare masculine perspective.  The character of Lucy Delaney as a (very) junior solicitor was rather less compelling.  A lighter side (but at times scarily self-centred) is shown by Jasmine Roberts, a pro-internet sexologist who co-opts feminism for her own ambitions. Laura is to be commended for her flexibility, ability to immerse into character and to engage the audience more through her voice and actions than through props.

This play has considerable potential for performance to high school, secondary college and youth groups and would be certain to initiate a difficult conversation that many Gen Xers or Baby Boomers might be ignorant of, or not want to admit happens.  Life isn’t simple and privacy is fraught in the internet age.

Rachel McGrath-Kerr