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The One
A viciously funny play about a couple trapped in a destructive cycle of love and lust. Winner of the 2013 Verity Bargate Award.
Harry and Jo are up all night drawing the battle lines of a relationship based on desire, dependency and dirty games. The One premiered at the Soho Theatre, London in February 2014.
"Achingly funny... witty, brave and galling writing... a harshly realistic, intelligent discussion of the complexities of love." - Time Out (London)
"The real sexy, savage and as lively as a cat on a hot tin roof... this is new writing as it should be." - The Stage
"Truly astounding… frank, edgy dialogue and biting wit… hypnotic to watch." - Telegraph
"Incredibly, lawlessly funny… deeply and seriously engaged with femininity and feminism in the contemporary world… in its willingness to say the unsayable it brings theatre one step closer to life…. makes an awful lot of other plays look pallid, mealy-mouthed and, frankly, just a bit boring." - Exeunt Magazine
"A finely wrought study of toxic relationships… spiky and unsettling." - Evening Standard
'Searingly accurate… fierce, funny and well-observed… a short, sharp glimpse into the addictive grip of toxic relationships." - Metro
"Punchy, shocking… it's the bravery in Jones' writing [that] makes this piece so exciting." - Huffington Post
Vicky Jones is a director and writer. As a director, her credits include Mydidae (Soho Theatre, then Trafalgar Studios) and Fleabag (Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, then Soho Theatre). Her first play The One won the Verity Bargate Award. She is co-founder and co-Artistic Director of new-writing company DryWrite.
Harry and Jo are up all night drawing the battle lines of a relationship based on desire, dependency and dirty games. The One premiered at the Soho Theatre, London in February 2014.
"Achingly funny... witty, brave and galling writing... a harshly realistic, intelligent discussion of the complexities of love." - Time Out (London)
"The real sexy, savage and as lively as a cat on a hot tin roof... this is new writing as it should be." - The Stage
"Truly astounding… frank, edgy dialogue and biting wit… hypnotic to watch." - Telegraph
"Incredibly, lawlessly funny… deeply and seriously engaged with femininity and feminism in the contemporary world… in its willingness to say the unsayable it brings theatre one step closer to life…. makes an awful lot of other plays look pallid, mealy-mouthed and, frankly, just a bit boring." - Exeunt Magazine
"A finely wrought study of toxic relationships… spiky and unsettling." - Evening Standard
'Searingly accurate… fierce, funny and well-observed… a short, sharp glimpse into the addictive grip of toxic relationships." - Metro
"Punchy, shocking… it's the bravery in Jones' writing [that] makes this piece so exciting." - Huffington Post
Vicky Jones is a director and writer. As a director, her credits include Mydidae (Soho Theatre, then Trafalgar Studios) and Fleabag (Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, then Soho Theatre). Her first play The One won the Verity Bargate Award. She is co-founder and co-Artistic Director of new-writing company DryWrite.
96 pages, Paperback
First published July 3, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 12, 2015
Basically an inferior modern British rehash of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' ... and might be funnier on stage than merely reading, but just seems rather sad.
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June 29, 2025Read for a workshop on Tuesday - very provocative and quite shocking to read, let alone watch. A really strong piece of contemporary drama - edgy, gritty, and quite honestly I'd give a lot to have seen the original production with Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the unpredictable and aggressive Jo.
July 26, 2018
I have a feeling this would have left me somewhat numb if I had seen it on stage. What a weird piece of work!
August 17, 2020
Hated this but thought it was really good... maybe funnier on stage but feel a bit shaken having just read it!
November 23, 2022
really like this one. set over one evening, a 2 hander.
September 19, 2023
Best modern play I ever read. Incredibly clever, snappy, funny and cheeky. Unafraid and on the nose. Shocking and touching. Astutely observed about complex modern characters.
May 15, 2024
Dark asf but I loved it.
December 15, 2016
I really loved this play and would love to see it onstage. Complex, awful at points but razor sharp and very funny. Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews