Trigger Warnings for addiction and suicide
With the entirety of the play set in Durham prison, the stage is creatively composed of three platforms and a separate room behind a transparent screen. A simple but effective set-up. The three platforms serve as the cells of our three inmates - Shepherd, Brown and Knox - with hidden storage below them for props to be hidden in. The room behind the screen serves as the corridor that night officer Jock watches from and later the solitary cells. One thing I noted throughout the performance was the clever use of lighting particularly to switch out who was in the solitary cell and to indicate how time was passing.
As expected, the play tackles some sensitive issues such as drug addiction and suicide in prisons. In a heartbreaking moment halfway through the play, the character of Brown, suffering from heroin addiction, takes his own life after a stint in solitary. The character had a bit of comic relief earlier in the play and shows how individuals get stuck in a cycle of being in and out of jail and not receiving the help they need. The prevalence of and dismissal of suicide in prisons is talked about by Renton in the description for the play:
"One Off was all the dignity afforded to those who could take no more. No names. Not even their number. One off. I am DV7786. And I write this for all the dead boys, and for night watchman Jock, who, without his invisible, persistent presence, unseen in the corridors of HMP Durham, I too may have just been another One Off."
Despite the serious themes tackled, the play is sprinkled with humourous moments between the three inmates and the night guard Jock that had the audience laughing out loud. It is very deeply rooted in the North East, filled with Geordie slang and Newcastle football chants.
One Off is an enlightening look into the prison system in this country and how it's inmates are failed. It is poignant and gets the audience to see prisoners as more than a number and is well worth a watch.
