It’s Nothing Personal, It’s Just Business
23 April 2025
Barons Court Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
It’s Nothing Personal, It’s Just Business had a short run at the Barons Court Theatre last week. The play is an exploration of the structures and constrains that creatives and actors are faced with in a system that sees theatre as a business structure rather than fostering freedom of expression.
The stage is littered with archival boxes and folders filled with bits of scripts and instructions, dripping in blackened out darkness, with a desk at the centre of the stage holding a green desk lamp and a variety of small items. Kelsey Marlowe Jessup sets up an analysis of her own work in theatre, starting out with a short monologue on the difficulties faced by an actor needing to prove to the government that their work in the UK is worthy of being allowed to stay and continue to work in the country, forced to turn their creative work into paperwork that will appease the authorities and prove their value.
Throughout the performance she ponders on the purpose of theatre, the purpose of actors and their interplay with the audience, and whether we truly allow creatives to surrender into their work and build meaningful experiences, in a world where theatre is seen as a business that needs rules and regulations. Placing boundaries and strict rules of expression on an actor does not allow them to really delve into their material in a way that is meaningful to the work itself.
Playing with and through the audience, the work touches on acting classes replacing passion and curiosity with rigid constructs of how expression should be regulated, creativity and the process of creating authentic and valuable works, AI infiltrating the creative industry to the detriment of authenticity, critiquing the over-reliance on technological gimmicks in many modern productions, and the lack of life and free expression in big budget theatre.
Jessup speaks almost entirely in verse throughout the performance, with naturally flowing speech that feels intentional and improvised all at once, weaving personal experience into a meditation on the direction of theatre today. Utilising a variety of visual elements, including a small army of red toy soldiers invading the set throughout the performance, before being violently swept aside in a moment of breaking free from expectations and constraints.
This exploration of the many facets of creative work is compelling, if a little too conceptual at times. There is room to expand on the poetic elements and deepen the analysis of creative industries, the production is a solid foundation for an emotional work questioning the way we interact with acting and theatre as a whole, yearning for deeper connection and a true surrender to performance in the moment.
