Anna Burnside reviews ‘an impressive piece of writing elevated by a superb performance’.
Sally can see the future. The gloomy bits only, unfortunately. She fell down a hole outside a theatre and emerged with the curse of precognition and a Greek chorus that do not shut up.
Her husband, Richard, is sceptical. And unwilling to approach their vocally right-wing neighbour to tell her that his wife has seen a cancerous tumour squished into the lymph nodes behind her ear.
Zinnie Harris, directing her own piece, brings the macro and micro horrors of life in 2026 together in this crunchy exploration of the morality of knowledge and when to act on it. Sally - Nicole Cooper at the peak of her considerable powers - is tormented by what she sees, the dilemmas it brings and the constant singing of the chorus. A gentle undercurrent of Greek drama gags running through the show is one of its many delights.
Richard, while constantly reminding Sally that he loves her, doesn’t actually believe her or make much effort to engage with what’s happening. He suggests chia seeds or HRT. If that was not bad enough, he can never remember whether their son has football or Scouts.
As Sally spirals - there’s a tremendous scene where she wants to enlist the army to eradicate the frogs she has started seeing - Richard proves himself to be as much use as a vote for the Liberal Democrats.
Supposing: is an impressive piece of writing elevated by a superb performance from Cooper. Some scenes she does purely with her face then, when required, lets off the fireworks.
Richard Conlon does his best as the spineless jobsworth husband, but it’s hard to be anything other than a walking lanyard beside Cooper at full pelt. She and Harris have already proved themselves a supreme team with Macbeth (An Undoing). It’s a joy to see two of the most formidable talents in Scottish theatre together again.
Supposing: is part of the Traverse Theatre’s Travfest 26 and performs until 30 August 2026. For further details, go to the theatre’s website.
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