Anya Murphy and Carlie Diamond in Misha Levkov’s In the Net. Photo: Steve Gregson

IT’S hard to know what Misha Levkov’s bighearted debut In the Net is trying to be. Is it a dystopian play focused on the climate crisis or is it primarily concerned with scoring political points about the hostile treatment of refugees in the UK? Levkov also explores community cohesion, activism and the trauma of losing a mother and a homeland.

Set in Kentish Town in the near future, a drought is spreading and water is rationed. In an attempt to unite the community, two half-sisters Laura (Carlie Diamond) and Anna (Anya Murphy), and Hala (Suzanne Ahmet), a Syrian refugee staying with the family, decide to use knitting yarn to construct a net across the skyline of their north London home.

Laura, whose spirited mother has recently died, calls it an eruv – a Jewish name for a symbolic enclosure which allows activities that would normally be forbidden on the Sabbath. It’s a safe space that offers “free movement”, where “the rules don’t hold”, where people can learn to change. Laura hopes it will act as a wake-up call about the climate crisis.

The sisters are refused planning permission by Mr Jobsworth, Councillor Felix Young (Tony Bell). Meanwhile the immigrant officers are closing in on Hala. They want to prove she’s not who she says she is. The three build the net anyway and survey their neighbourhood like triumphant climate activists.

Vicky Moran offers assured direction and the performances are good, including the sisters’ kindly father Harry (Hywel Simons), but Levkov’s drama is overstuffed with ideas and consequently lacks focus.

If it had stuck to one theme, In the Net would have carried more weight. Climate refugees are already a reality. The UK’s hostile environment damages those seeing sanctuary. Water shortages are a real threat. By attempting to cover all bases, Levkov dilutes tension and can only scratch the surface.

Until February 4
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