Anna.

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Anna, a student so withdrawn and quiet that even the 'best friend' she lives with barely knows her, has vanished. Last seen getting into the car of an unknown man, her flatmate's curiosity over her absence quickly turns to worry, and she attempts to retrace Anna's steps from a few hours earlier – except for some reason, her evasive boyfriend Matthew is none too keen to help...

For a story about the dark secrets and harsh truths that can lurk beneath everyday life, Anna. is surprisingly one dimensional. It relies heavily on its non-linear structure and an ominous, slow-burning element of mystery to keep the audience invested, which is probably for the best, since the meat of the play—the gradual unravelling and exposure of the three protagonists' inner, damaged personalities—cannot sustain our interest alone. The action skips back and forth between different points in the day, steadily revealing what has transpired, but while the characters' panic grows, there is little real drama, just a grim sense of foreboding that, unfortunately, is eventually satisfied by a series of predictable twists.

While the cast does a nice job with the characters' emotional collapse, avoiding overplaying it (particularly Jennifer Todd as Anna herself, who strikes a nice balance between guarded and sardonic), by halfway through, the dialogue has become tonally repetitive, only varying between awkward stiltedness and anxious frustration. Anna. is earnest about its themes, but sadly misfires in too many ways; it presents us with darkness, but does nothing to invite us in.