Cold Warm, a play by Florence Read showing as part of the Oxford University Dramatic Society's New Writing Festival, traces the rise of capitalistic housing developments with the fall of community.

Set in a public housing building, the play's protagonist is losing his grip on reality as well as the relationships and passions that keep him safe and happy. He intensely captures key moments in his life story, the poignant events that shape who and where he is. While the narrative is recounted, he gradually comes to realise that all of this meandering experience has come to nothing.

All the while, the other characters in the play, which each play minor roles, threaten his home. Real estate developments, as portrayed in this story, care not for the lives of individuals like our protagonist. Stainless steel bathrooms and astronomical rents trump the ability of the poorest to stay afloat.

There is a central contradiction of the play. Life in this building is depicted as miserable. The protagonist sees the abuse of a dog every morning and wonders if the nurse upstairs is dying. He is restless, with very little to do but draft bizarre letters to the rail industry ('Dear The Rail Industry,' he writes). It is always too cold, or too warm. But when he is told that he will have to leave, the prospect is far more miserable than his existence hitherto.

The script is bitter-sweet and poetic, including nuanced humour alongside devastatingly sad observations. The audience lives the contrasts, the warm and the cold, and it is both beautiful and dizzying.

The words are not always grounded, however. Watching this play, it is easy to feel lost. It's not clear what the play is really about for the first twenty minutes. While the acting, especially of the protagonist, is moving and effective at the pivotal points, it doesn't always reach a level of engagement which compels the audience to invest themselves into the action. It would be better to get a clearer sense of why we should care earlier, because the pay-offs of following through are great.