Written on impulse alongside a radio play that won the Cam FM Radio Drama Competition, CODA promises a ‘changing, evolving, fast-paced drama’ about a young couple whose discovery of an uncomfortable truth casts doubt on their still young relationship. Tom Powell, who wrote the play in the languid month of August calls it a ‘play about relationships’, the relationships between the eight characters whose dark, humorous dissection of the unpleasant discovery gives the play the ‘boldness’ that first drew Jack Gamble to the script.

When Tom initially showed it to Jack, he used a pseudonym so that his would-be director would not temper any criticism. ‘He went on Laura Wade’s Wikipedia and changed her page because he thought if he said it was by him I’d just praise it regardless,’ said Jack. ‘But I liked the play. Tom had originally said he was going to apply to put on Wade’s play, what did I think of that plan? And I told him it was really, really good and that I was excited about it. And then of course, it turned out to be his play…’

The pair, who have previous written comedy together (as well as together putting on a production of The Real Thing at Corpus last term) think that as a student, Tom’s exploration of emotional proximity, how far two people can really know each other, is likely to ring more true with their audience. ‘The dynamics and the tensions that exist in any human relationship are played out at an accelerated pace because of the things that happen in the play,’ said Tom. ‘And hopefully this is shown in such a way that people will find moving, and funny. Especially because I’ve written it from a position of less distance from my audience.’ On the topic of why new writing at Cambridge is so scarce considering the amount of theatre that gets put on, Tom protests that the ‘main issue is not the lack of writing, but the trepidation about going to see new writing.’ Maybe CODA will have a different experience.