Set in a contemporary Irish school, Iseult Golden and David Horan’s Class is a gripping play about the many differences that divide us and shape our social interactions—especially class, gender, and education. The Bush Theatre’s original production, directed by the authors, was an excellent show, driven by high tension and complex characters.

The play is divided between two sets of interactions, both involving Ray McCafferty (Will O’Connell), a teacher at the school. In one interaction, he is conferencing with Brian and Donna, the parents of a student named Jayden, and in the other McCafferty is teaching Jayden and another student named Kaylie who both have learning disabilities (implicitly dyslexia and ADHD, respectively). The actor who plays Brian doubles as Jayden (Stephen Jones), and the actor playing Donna also plays Kaylie (Sarah Morris). Brian and Donna have come in because McCafferty suspects that Jayden may have a learning disability—or difference, as he is careful to call it—and he wants their permission to have Jayden evaluated by an educational psychologist. Brian and Donna want to support Jayden’s education, but a series of issues arise that lead them into conflict with one another and with McCafferty. McCafferty’s tendency to treat Brian and Donna like children ends up enraging the working-class Brian, whose anger management issues largely center around a lifetime of being condescended to and dismissed. That is coupled with the messy divorce/separation that Donna and Brian are going through; he wants to get back together and she is adamant in her refusal. Donna, at the same time, is cagey about allowing Jayden to see an educational psychologist or be diagnosed in any way because of her own undiagnosed dyslexia and the self-esteem issues that her struggles created. However, it’s ultimately McCafferty who snaps, losing his façade of composure and exposing just how right Brian is when he accuses the teacher of thinking his family are scum.

In the parallel storyline, McCafferty tries to engage Jayden and Kaylie in their school work through a mixture of bargaining, unconventional lessons, and discussion. Jayden is often reluctant to work at all, while Kaylie is so easily distracted that she rarely spends much time on any given task. However, the children have their own problems, and McCafferty tries to deal with them—like Kaylie’s (at least temporarily clean) mother reclaiming custody of her daughter from Kaylie’s grandmother, against Kaylie’s wishes.

The production at the Bush Theatre was very good, with strong chemistry between the three actors. Jones seemed to set the mood of the show, partially because Brian is the most obviously volatile character—the one most obviously prone to anger issues. The way Jones used stage space was very effective at conveying his emotional states, whether distant from the other characters or looming large over the physically smaller O’Connell, Jones was able to use his body and position in space to create an atmosphere where Brian’s moods and emotions structured the emotional economy of the performance.