“Vehement” by Callum Walker
Nottingham New Theatre

Again showcasing the writing talents of the Nottingham New Theatre students, this play is all about a nuclear submarine, The Vehement and their crew.

After a four month patrol, the crew are making their way back home, but above them, all is not well with the natural world with storms and a meteor shower raging. All this and then there’s a sudden lack of response from shore.

The crew are in an isolated and claustrophobic environment and that gets their minds working overtime. The irony of it is that these men have the power to destroy, but now seem powerless.

They rescue a sailor, taking him on board, but when things take a different turn, they, along with the rescued sailor have to turn back to sea for what they feel is for their own safety.

The crew are under the impression that nuclear war may have broken out, but how do they combat the fact that outside their cramped environment, the world as they know it, may no longer exist. Add to this an unexpected guest on board and the lives of all on the Vehement could be in serious danger!

This is a different style of writing for Callum, and you can see that he has had to do lots of submarinal research, and the factual information really gives a lot of realism to this play.

Jack Ellis (McKennan - the rescued sailor), Gabriella Teriaca (Runa), Barnaby Hartwill (Captain Adams), Sofia Bassani (Fowler) who makes her NNT debut, Nicholas Landon (Poole) and Ian Sheard (Holden) really lay on the tension and the claustrophobia and there is one part in this play that teased an intake of breath from the audience tonight and you really start to think differently about one particular character.

Directed and Written by Callum and Produced by Sophie Curtis, they have created an atmospheric and at times uncomfortable piece. The set is very cleverly designed by Essie Butterworth, giving that claustrophobic feel in the simplest of designs, which i won't give away.

Also creating that special submarine atmosphere are the Sound Design and the Light Design by Rupert Galea and Izzy de Bono respectively.

A clever piece of writing and some passionate acting with a wonderful build up and an unexpected twist. Not only that but the 90 minutes the play took flew by as you were completely drawn into the story and the characters.

“Vehement” is at the Nottingham New Theatre until Tuesday 19 March.