Credit must first go to writer and co-director Oliver O’Reagan for his work tying themes from both ‘Demons’ and ‘Infinite Jest’ together into natural, beautifully written conversations between Katherine, Nikolai and the mysterious Doctor/Tikon (a psychiatrist and a monk respectively, both played by Danial Ahmer). O’Reagan and co-director and producer Beth White have managed explore highly personal and sensitive themes of depression and addiction in a way that made you feel like you were in the room with the characters.
The play was filmed in black and white, a brave choice that paid off – I found it made the already moving dialogue even more emotive. The stylistic choice of filming each actor separately also worked well. Video editors Barney Hartwill, Ellie Harding and Jesse Rough managed to overlay voices and cut between footage of each actor in a way that made this feel like one of the most natural pieces of online theatre I’ve seen. The use of sound throughout was