Fix

Fix was the third of my three-shows-in-three-nights experience and, rather appropriately, about addiction: already I was feeling the neurotransmitters charging up at the ritual of picking up a ticket, taking a seat, watching another world in front of me. It's devised and performed by Worklight Theatre, and on an overnight trip to Exeter I took the chance to see it at the Bike Shed Theatre - my first visit to this atmospheric, cavern-like space in Fore Street. I'd already been to a couple of shows at the pop-up Boat Shed Theatre at the quay, and was glad to get acquainted with the permanent version.

Anyway, Fix is based on two years of research into addiction, which was distilled here into a three-hander, switching rapidly between scenes with musical interludes. Rianna Dearden played a counsellor (researching for a PhD), and we followed, in glimpses, the story of two addictions: a gambling addict named Zach (played by Finley Cormack), who is distracted from looking after his infant daughter by a gambling app; and Maggie (Fiona Whitelaw), wife of a porn addict. The stories are interleaved with information about the biochemistry of addiction, delivered at terrific pace and with terrific energy (so terrific I struggled to keep up at times). The music was delivered on two guitars with all three of the cast singing, and the songs recast the language of addiction study in a beguiling way. The opening number celebrated the powers of dopamine. One turned phrases from a porn site into a kind of rap, and another told us about the number of licensed betting shops in the UK ('There are 8700 casinos ...' it started, but I'm afraid an internal switch turned on Katie Melua, 'There are Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing'). The company made great use of the small space, sitting on small wooden crates also used for percussion, and presented a fast-moving hour of emotional rollercoaster from hilarity to despair. It seemed just the right kind of space for this sort of punchy info-drama. I'll look forward to more from Worklight and more visits to the Bike Shed. What a pleasure, too, to meet Mumbai theatre practitioner Sapan Saran, who is embarking on a tour of small theatre spaces in the West Country - an inspirational project, indeed, and I trust an enjoyable one.