I had an issue with Grud.  It is about a very real problem of a young college student coping with caring for her father who is an alcoholic.  This very serious issue is juxtaposed with this same student’s relationship with a likeable misfit classmate who treats us to high comedy.  I was uncomfortable with the interrelation of comedy and what is child abuse in Sarah Power’s play.

The split between the two areas, the flat and the college is reflected in Noemi Daboczi’s set which has them at either end of the stage with a sloping floor joining them.  The flat area is strewn with beer cans, fish and chip papers and dirty clothes as well as a battered leather armchair and stool.   I also did not understand why the flat and college areas had to change place in the play.

The opening scene is of a very quirky student Aicha (Kadiesha Belgrave) welcoming us to her Space Club.  The projected image of the galaxy fills the room and there is Richard Strauss’s music.  Bo (Catherine Ashdown) comes in clutching a timetable.  Aicha says , “Helllooooo.  And welcome to SPACE.” Aicha presses a button and a projected image of the galaxy fills the room and there is Richard Strauss’s music.  Aicha says, “Are you not here for Space Club?” Bo has come to find the Physics Extended Project.