Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, a co-production between Crying Chair Theatre and Secret House at Flight Path Theatre, is wrought with tension. From the opening moments when a family’s calm life is shattered after a revealing online video surfaces, the play knows exactly how to twist that knot in your stomach and when to release it with a belly laugh.
Written by James Fritz, Four Minutes Twelve Seconds premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2014 and was later nominated for an Olivier Award. The story centres on Di (Emma Dalton) and David (James Smithers), whose son Jack is caught in an online scandal. A short, explicit video sends their family into chaos.
Along the way, they come across Nick (Nicholas McGrory), Jack’s best friend, and Cara (Kira McLennan), Jack’s ex-girlfriend. Their interactions force the parents to struggle with loyalty, blame, class, gender, and how truth becomes distorted when shared online.
The committed realism of the production and the superb acting on display lend the show a layer of authenticity that is unsettling. Emma Dalton anchors the play, never leaving the stage. Her journey shows the full range of a mother torn between protection and fear.
James Smithers is a great foil for her, balancing pride, anger, and confusion with precision. Kira McLennan is feisty and steadfast, as she should be, never backing down from Di and calling her out on her familial biases.
Nicholas McGrory bookends the play with two fantastic scenes, making the moral of the story more complex and human. Director Jane Angharad guides the play with control and clarity. She knows where to pull her punches and when to let them fly.
As the 70 minutes progressed, I felt myself being consumed by the weight of the circumstances. And just when I thought I was about to be taken under, Jane puts in a joke or moment of levity to allow the audience to release their tension.
James Smithers, who also did the set design, captures the feeling of technology watching and recording everything, how we are becoming a part of it, whether we like it or not. The white, hollow projects give the scene transitions a very unnerving feel.
Clare Sheridan’s lighting and Kieran Camejo’s use of projections and sound add urgency and exposure to the story’s underlying themes.
Four Minutes Twelve Seconds is strong, thoughtful theatre, capturing the anxiety of the digital age with honesty and purpose. It leaves you questioning what it means to live in a world where criminals get to walk free. How circumstances allow for justice to go unserved. For families to be torn apart and yet remain together. How the most vulnerable and cherished parts of a community often are the ones who get left behind.
Four Minutes Twelve Seconds runs to 1 November at Flight Path Theatre. 142 Addison Road Marrickville NSW 2204.
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/4-minutes-12-seconds
Website: https://www.flightpaththeatre.org/whats-on/4-minutes-12-seconds
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/secrethouseco/ and https://www.instagram.com/cryingchairtheatre/
Photo credits: Phil Erbacher
