Lava

by James Fritz

A small asteroid has hit the capital city. Thousands have been displaced. And in a town far away, a young man called Vin is finding it hard to talk. The only person who seems to notice is Rach, who resolves to find out what’s troubling him and help him find his voice again. But when Rach’s family take in an articulate and charismatic survivor of the asteroid incident, Vin’s silence is no longer her first priority. How does it feel when the suffering of others seems more legitimate than our own?

Genres: Plays, Theatre

104 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2016

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is now the 4th play I've read by Fritz, and the third to receive a lowly 2-star rating, so I guess I should just give up on him. This starts with a rather ludicrous premise (spoiler: 12,002 people die when an asteroid hits London) and involves a young boy, Vin, who refuses to speak thereafter, allegedly due to grief (although he can and does text, so am not so sure what the difference is). The four sections are named after the infamous 5 stages of grief, but don't really coincide with those states. And much of it is delineated by long silences, which I am not sure would add anything or just prolong the misery.

https://reviewsgate.com/lava-nottingh...

[Mae !!!!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

-MINOR SPOILERS-




GUSSSSSSSS AAAAAAAAA
I can't just base the entire review on Gus, but then again- who's going to stop me? (Okay it was a good book, and it was really funny with good characters (mainly Gus) and THERE WERE SO MANY PLOT TWISTS- I HAVE TRUST ISUUES NOW THANKS A LOT VIN AND JAMIE)

[Larissa Da Fonseca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this play. It’s a great depiction of grief and how different people cope with it and the different situations in which people can feel grief. I also loved the fact that the writer talked about how some people’s grief are overlooked sometimes when there’s a big disaster for example. Vin talks about how he feels overlooked because of the big natural disaster that happened. It made me think of when someone famous dies alongside some other people who weren’t famous and everyone tweets about the famous person and says rest in peace etc but what about the other people who were with them who also passed away you know? I would definitely recommend reading, it certainly surprised me with some plot twists.

[Shana · Rating 2 out of 5]

i did enjoy the play however i didn’t like the fact i felt lied to the whole time and we did not get a clear ending! so even though it was an enjoyable read i just didn’t enjoy the style however i did rather enjoy the shocks through out.

[Charlotte]

this was so good!!! thanku NHB for free stuff

[Coral · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely story about acceptance. Particularly lovely metaphor within. Low star rating as its not the most compelling story but still a nice short read.

[Megan Huggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A subtle exploration of grief, with the beginnings of hope. Really lovely.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Balm for a weary soul at the moment. Empathy and tenderness in spades.

[Hilda Moreno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for the NHB Playgroup. This play is so important. It tells people —specifically men— that they don't need to have a ‘proper' reason to be sad or depressed and that depression is not a problem to be solved but an experience to be loved through.

[Sam - Spines in a Line · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Playwrights Canada Press for a copy!

This was a bit of an odd play to structure for print but I thought it worked really well. Silence plays a really big role in the story, and one of the characters doesn’t speak, and only communicates through text at one point, and pauses in the dialogue are really important. I thought the formatting worked really well to show this (since you can’t hear it) and I appreciated the playwright’s explanation at the beginning of the text that emphasized how it should be read.
The story itself I enjoyed but I’m not sure I got its whole meaning. London has just experienced an asteroid strike, many are dead, and one young man stops speaking. While I found them all interesting characters and it was an engaging storyline, it also seemed like there was some deeper message it was trying to tell that I didn’t feel came through. Other reviews of the play support that there’s some kind of profound story here but it wasn’t obvious to me what that was.

[Issie Aris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be one of my all time favourite plays. It’s a beautiful way of looking into mental health and grief, especially in men, and focusing on how people cope and show their emotions and grief. The play develops so that we see an individual learn how to communicate more with their grief in their own time. This will always be a 5 star play!