Early indications suggest James Pearson should write for TV, not for theatre. Faultlines is his first full-length play. Set in a small town somewhere in a homogenised North of England, this is a tale that revolves around Steph, a young girl who goes missing. The fall out is family upheaval and accusations of paedophilia. Such is the topical stuff ITV dramas are made of.
      Pearson's story is stretched across nine characters - from Steph's mum, dad and step-mum to her schoolmates and the family of the accused. Sadly this breadth in number leaves a lack of depth in characterisation. In consequence the piece feels better suited to soap opera than to fringe theatre.
      Faultlines is broken into a sequence of small scenes, separated by blackouts. The characters interact in twos and threes, surrounded by pools of light. The effect is a televisual one - as if we are cutting between scenes. Conversations are staccato and invariably involve a terse or awkward expression of emotions - the kind of thing you're used to seeing in East Enders. The script is weighed down by several clichés, from the ‘one year on' timeframe to its closing reconciliations.
      Despite taking a sympathetic view of juvenile men kissing underage girls, it is a piece that lacks bite - it relies on a ‘twist' to provide an injection of drama. Instead of using this structural device it would have been better to focus on the complex emotions and psychology latent in the story. In essence, Faultlines is a bleak, realist drama. Unfortunately, both in its writing and performance, it's more Coronation Street than Look Back in Anger. You could just stay in your living room and flick on the telly.
Iona Firouzabadi