"The Secret". BT Studio. Review by Anuj Mishra

Every so often, I find myself watching a newly-written play dramatising Oxford student life. They often express an anxiety about life after graduation, or use getting into Oxford as the apotheosis of characters’ coming-of-ages. The Secret does away with such tropes, mutating the city into a horrifying world of bumbling TV-style detectives, cannibalistic tutors, and a counselling service that aims to depress.

The Secret is padded with an armour of well-timed quips about uninterested tutors, unattended laptops in the RadCam, and ineffective welfare initiatives, mostly delivered by Michael Gormley, writer, director, and – in the play’s world – the comically evil head of a student support service that procures students for cannibalistic dons. 

The play begins with a student (Cathy Scoon) in tears as she reports her friend missing. “Maybe she’s just gone home,” both a police officer (Ed Dhanowa) and a counsellor (Jem Hunter) suggest to her. The symbolism is clear: as my time of Oxford whirs to a close, I can recall many familiar faces who suddenly seemed to “disappear” without a trace. It’s often only a few weeks after the fact that one even realises that so-and-so has rusticated. 

Much of the play’s merit lies in this extended satire, where the University reveals itself to be a factory for fresh meat, burning out students before unceremoniously dumping them out. The play’s blink-and-you-miss-it runtime – at only 40 minutes – fostered an intensity, allowing the fantasy to remain a set piece and avoiding the need for much character work.

It was evident that the play, though clearly well-conceived, had some issues with delivery. Despite its brevity, there were numerous scene changes, which were sometimes clunky, with actors changing costumes in view of the audience before emerging as completely different characters. Issues with casting had clearly required a late step-in for one major role, and as such the actor read his lines off a notepad for the entire duration.

Nonetheless, a valiant effort had clearly been made to persist despite major setbacks, and, after all, this is only student drama. The Secret doesn’t take itself too seriously, and leaves a smattering of fun and satire in its wake. 


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