'Jordan' by Anna Reynolds with Moira Buffini

‘Jordan is a powerful and distressing piece of work. In this one-woman show, Allie Croker plays Shirley Jones who is standing trial for the murder of her son.

Croker brilliantly portrays the likable but deeply disturbed young woman.  Although you might not expect to view someone who smothered her own child in a sympathetic light, her performance manages to make this possible. How potent this real-life tragedy was is brought into focus, and the more forceful scenes are actually quite difficult to watch.

Writers Moira Buffini and Anna Reynolds interweave the tale of Rumplestiltskin with the main narrative. This is an effective device. It helps to capture how childlike Jones’ character is and ultimately reveals the state of mind that provoked her actions.

The set design is sparse with just a table in an empty room, but it is suitable for giving the impression that Jones is speaking to us from her cell. Croker gives a strong enough performance to conjure the different locations and people in her story. There is also some very effective use of props, for example when we discover she still carries her child’s toy in her handbag.

It’s an unremittingly bleak subject and it’s handled tastefully. Though if you were looking for any sort of consolation, some light in the dark, there is none. If you want to see some fiercely moving theatre then Jordan is worth checking out. However, you may want to book some comedy shows to fill up the rest of afternoon or go for a bit of lie down.