marjorie73 | Admissions, Trafalgar Studios

About 5 years ago, I saw Joshua Harmon's play 'Bad Jews' ,at the Ustinov Studio in Bath, and it was excellent, so when I saw that another of his plays, Admissions, was being produced at Trafalgar Studios, I was keen to see it, and when I saw it would star Alex Kingston, it sealed the deal!

The play features Kingston as Sherri, who is head of admissions at a private school, and who is very consciously, proudly, and vocally seeking to increase diversity and access in in the school.

We see her, at the start of the play, demanding that her subordinate amend the school brochure to show more photographs showing student who aren't white, and saying (while trying not to say so explicitly) that photos of Lewis, the mixed race son of another staff member, don't count because he isn't obviously black..

We learn that Sherri's son Charlie, and Lewis, is best friend, have both applied for early admission to Yale, and are waiting to hear back.

When it turns out that Lewis has been accepted, and Charlie hasn't, things go rapidly downhill, as Charlie, and his parents, try to navigate how far they are willing to stick to their principles when it starts to involve personal sacrifice.

It lays bare a lot of uncomfortable truths, but it does it with style, and is very, very funny.