Ugly Lies the Bone review – war veteran faces her demons in virtual reality rehab

Lyttelton, London
Kate Fleetwood plays an American soldier returning home from a tour of duty in a striking, hi-tech production directed by Indhu Rubasingham

We know virtual reality is changing entertainment: it features prominently, for example, in this UK premiere of Lindsey Ferrentino's play, which is accompanied by an immersive VR installation in the foyer after the show. But it was news to me that VR is used to treat soldiers experiencing PTSD. In Ferrentino's play, Jess has returned home to Florida's Space Coast after a third tour of duty in Afghanistan: her face and body are badly burned and she is in chronic pain, struggling to walk or turn her head. Ugly Lies the Bone charts her efforts to heal physically, and - harder still - to face the emotional challenges of homecoming: a reality that doggedly resists virtual solutions.

Having premiered in New York in 2015, the play is now given a hi-tech production by Indhu Rubasingham, the entire curving, craterous stage of which becomes a giant screen each time Jess dons her VR goggles. Over 90 minutes, scenes of her reintegration into hometown life are intercut with therapy sessions, immersing Jess in a paradisiacal virtual world that relieves her pain. She dreams of a mountainous snowscape; her unseen therapist brings it to digital life around her - and before our eyes, too, courtesy of video designer Luke Halls.