Supposing:
★★★★☆ Cleverly layered
Traverse (Venue 15): Fri 31 Jul – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Supposing:, the new play from Zinnie Harris staged by the Traverse Theatre Company in Traverse 2, is a clever and timely play.
After a minor accident (she literally falls down a hole outside a theatre), Sally (Nicole Cooper) feels she has been cursed. Apparently able to see events in the future, she is unable to convince her husband Richard (Richard Conlon) of the truth or importance of the visions given to her by an ever-present Greek chorus only she can see. Richard, meanwhile, is more preoccupied by his work at the council liaising with hotels housing immigrants in a town riven by protest and intolerance.
Richard Conlon and Nicole Cooper in Supposing. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
Harris has written a nuanced, intelligent and layered play, delving into Greek myth, meta-theatricality and politics. On one level, it’s a thoroughly credible domestic drama, shot through with occasional dark humour; the events of the play have all the more weight because the relationship between Sally and Richard is established so elegantly and believably by the writing and acting.
On another level, it’s a clever and urgent dissecting of all manner of pressing contemporary concerns, achieved with economy and poetry. While some of this content is stark – the mentions of Reform and the toxically framed debate on immigration – it is always precise and in context. Some moments, such as the suggestion that Sally’s visions would be more accepted coming from a man, are all the more powerful for being almost thrown away.
The allusions to myth and Greek theatre, and the frequent reminders of the play’s own theatricality, both of which could be jarring in less assured hands, are done with skill and grace.
rhythm and resonance
Harris’s direction, meanwhile, gives the play a rhythm and resonance, and brings the best out of Cooper and Conlon. Cooper combines the everyday with the more otherworldly elements of the character. Sally’s own doubts about what is happening are laid bare in a way that is constantly compelling. Conlon, meanwhile, is utterly convincing as an essentially ‘decent’ if occasionally sleekit partner.
Much of the production appears spare and minimal; Alisa Kalyanova’s set consists of little more than a circle, Lizzie Powell’s lighting is often direct, Danny Krass’s sound design is never overused. Yet (aided by Jack Webb’s movement design) the production opens out in a fashion that it would be unfair to give away.
Nicole Cooper and Richard Conlon in Supposing.Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic
Supposing: blends the everyday and the mythic in a way that so many attempts at magic realism on stage fail to do, seeming effortless and being the product of a fierce theatrical intelligence. Subtle enough not to draw attention to the significance of its themes, this is a powerful and urgent production.
Running time: One hour and 25 minutes (no interval).
Traverse (Traverse 2), 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED (Venue 15).
Friday 31 July – Sunday 30 August 2026.
Mon – Sun: See website for details.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Traverse website: www.traverse.co.uk/
Facebook: @TraverseTheatre
Instagram: @traversetheatre
Linktree: @traversetheatre.
ENDS
