It’s Not About Coffee – Little Coup Theatre Company / The Jack Studio Theatre, London

Who knew a coffee shop in a billionaire’s doomsday bunker could serve up such a funny, well-observed and quietly dystopian two-hander? It’s Not About Coffee certainly hits the spot.

It’s Not About Coffee

You don’t necessarily go into a play set in an underground coffee shop built by a tech billionaire with especially high hopes for narrative nuance. But It’s Not About Coffee at the Jack Studio Theatre is a sly surprise. What could easily have been a sketch dragged to feature length becomes, instead, a sharp, well-paced and very funny two-hander about work, survival, and compromise.

Zona (Sophia Hail) and Katherine (Jennifer Kehl) are our odd couple, stuck together on a 60-day trial run as post-apocalyptic baristas in a Hawaiian bunker owned by a faceless mogul (Zark Puckerberg or similar). Katherine’s all posture and pugs, deeply committed to rules, systems, and most of all, the contract. Zona is more relaxed, unbothered, even slightly adrift. The dynamic is classic without being clichéd, thanks in large part to the chemistry between Hail and Kehl, who also co-wrote the piece.

The script cleverly layers character work with commentary, but never lets either weigh the play down. One minute we’re chuckling at clashes over inventory and recipe cards, the next we’re watching two women try to work out if selling your soul for a salary and safety is a real moral choice or just how the world works now. The dystopia is absurd, but not too far-fetched. Think Black Mirror meets flatshare sitcom.

The Light at the End of the Bunker

This is the debut production from Little Coup Theatre Company, and it’s slick in the best way. Ferdy Emmet’s lighting marks shifts in mood and memory, as well as the passage of time, with precision. Sophia Hail’s sound design is subtly effective. Direction, also by Hail*, leans confidently into both the warmth and the weirdness of the premise, allowing moments of stylised movement to quicken the tempo without losing us emotionally.

There’s something genuinely impressive about how well this piece balances tone. It’s not trying to batter you with its ideas, but they’re clearly there: about late capitalism, about who gets to opt out of society, and who ends up cleaning the espresso machine. We’ve seen a lot of dystopias on stage in recent years, but this one wears its doom lightly. And is all the more effective for it.

And as for the characters? We’ve all met (or been) a Zona or a Katherine. Over the 85 minutes we see both grow and compromise, softening and recalibration, until something like mutual respect (and maybe even affection) emerges. That’s no small arc to land in such a tight piece.

It’s Not About Coffee is funny, pointed, well-executed, and it’s a real shame it only has a short run. With a longer life and wider audience, it could become one of those cult fringe shows people fondly remember discovering early. Let’s hope it resurfaces. After all, since the ultra-rich really are preparing to hole up in bunkers, we may all need to polish our barista skills.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

It’s Not About Coffee on until 19 July 2025. More info and tickets here.

*What doesn’t she do? Kehl is also Producer, Digital Artist, Seamstress, with more titles for both of them besides. It’s multi-talented people like this you need in an apocalypse!