Isolated Incident
02 August 2025
The Rosemary Branch
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Isolated Incident, Incept Collective’s impressive debut play, premiered at the Camden Fringe this past week.
On a polar research station, far away from society and stuck for months at a time, Oonagh just celebrated her birthday. The next morning, she’s met with Adam acting as if nothing was wrong, as if nothing had happened last night. When she confronts him with her side of the story, he insists that last night was consensual, that she clearly wanted him to do what he did. She knows that’s not true, but stuck with him and their supervisor Paz, she tries to find a way to make the situation work. Her trauma and the casual attitudes of both men on the station challenge her perception and her mind begins to unravel.
Isolated incident is an urgent production that tackles difficult topics, from “he said she said” allegations to how to react to friends being accused of the unthinkable, there is so much to be discussed. The clever writing wraps the action into a Groundhog Day of trauma nightmares, making Oonagh relive the fateful morning after her birthday again and again, giving her space to try different approaches with not so different results.
The show tackles the very difficult topic of assault allegations and how high the standard for believing women is still today. How standing by a friend because it’s impossible to know whose word is truer leads to re-traumatisation. And how it seems impossible to find a way to approach a non-consensual encounter among friends without burning bridges.
It’s a deeply touching and riveting production presenting innovative ideas and breathtaking staging. The ending is a little lacklustre though, feeling very anticlimactic after such an intensely mesmerising show. There’s definitely room for finding a more cohesive ending, though the sinking feeling of “what now?” being left behind might be exactly what the production is aiming for after all.
