Reviews

"This is a powerful debut, a psychological thriller with moments of high comedy. The sell-out run has already ended but it will surely be revived elsewhere soon. " 
The Spectator on STEAM 

"Charles has a strong academic background in playwriting and it shows - Steam's structure is neat and nicely balanced ... He has a fine ear for dialogue, and for all the sex talk the play is never crass...All in all this is a classy, entertaining evening of fringe theatre that deserves rather more than the one-week stretch" 
MyLondonYourLondon on STEAM 

“Counterfeit Skin is a great story about love, pleasure, friendship, infidelity, fear of being alone and the need for emotional safety. All these profoundly human feelings are brilliantly brought to the stage here. 
With all these elements combined: a great script, excellent actors, good direction and quality production, Counterfeit Skin has all the ingredients of a good play and achieves it! Don’t miss it!” 
Remote Goat (5/5) on Counterfeit Skin

“Sparkling dialogue is the trademark of Jason Charles, whose previous play ‘Steam’ played to sold-out houses and rave reviews. Mini-farces, such as Mach trying to get his lanky frame in view of the computer camera by lying under the desk at work or gyrating wildly to Madonna recordings add to the sound and visual entertainment. 
If the first half of the play seems to be a light-hearted comedy, the second part darkens into a psychological thriller as Jake allows full rein to his fantasies. Things escalate to breaking point until the nerve-wracking denouement.” 
My Cultural Life (4/5) on Counterfeit Skin

“Jason Charles is a skilled writer … what starts out as a light comedy soon takes a dark turn – skeletons come clattering out of closets and before you know it Counterfeit Skin has become a tale of infidelity, rampant masochism and potential violence – certainly not a show for the faint hearted. 
With plenty of surprises and shocking twists, Charles successfully mixes comedy with drama … this is a promising show with loads of potential.” 
Rainbow Network on Counterfeit Skin

“Themes of domination and submission within these relationships, the effects of pain and pleasure on the respective protagonists and the shallowness and superficiality of some contemporary gay liaisons is put under the microscope in this entertaining show.” 
Islington Gazette on Counterfeit Skin

“A decent example of that often difficult genre, dark comedy … Jason Charles has done a fine job of making these characters – stuffed up not so much by their parents as their past – sympathetic … It may be some time before I see a show like this on Shaftesbury Avenue, which is a pity."
MyLondonYourLondon on Counterfeit Skin

"Laugh-out-loud gags....the receptionist, Mach, is a terrific creation - utterly ruthless and vulnerable by turn - who contributes a string of sharp one-liners to the evening, using his undoubted sex appeal like a devastating weapon."
GT Magazine on Counterfeit Skin

“The play is so observant that it’s not a matter of identifying with one character, but with aspects of all of them. Jason Charles has created characters that are believable and tragic without allowing them to become caricatures. Overall Counterfeit Skin takes a bunch of unhealthy and destructive relationships and throws them under the microscope before picking them to pieces.” 
Boyz Magazine on Counterfeit Skin

“Jason Charles' new play, which follows his well-received Rupture and Counterfeit Skin, is a sharp, snappy observation on family dysfunction, and as the two pairs of mothers and sons confront each other and themselves, the will-he, won't-he coming out drama is played out against frequently cringing laughs and wincing one-liners.” 
Pink Paper on Estranged 

“Jason Charles is an obviously talented writer. He has the rare ability to detonate the scenarios he sets up in funny and engaging ways. His last play Counterfeit Skin was a top seller at this same venue and I always look forward to seeing his work. He’s also a romantic at heart and you always leave one of his plays with a belief in the redemptive power of love, even when it eludes the central characters.” 
Phil Willmott for Rainbow Network on Estranged 

"Writer Jason Charles turns the microscope on the fear and the inner turmoil of his characters and just like the cast he is fresh on the London stage”
Islington Gazette on Estranged 

“Jason Charles has successfully created six individual characters with such different motives, backgrounds and relationships that it is astonishing how much we are able to learn about each character in such a short period of time. Just like some of the outlandish characters this play was a lot of fun. It was funny yet tense and touched upon some incredibly important issues such as being tied down by family and needing to desperately be free. For a night when you want to get away from your own family problems Estranged can show you a family that is bound to be more dysfunctional than your own.” 
ExtraExtra on Estranged 

“This is a most unusual play on a most unusual subject - incest, a subject which is almost taboo but which the Josef Fritzl story has brought to the front pages of the world. The talented playwright Jason Charles, whose fourth play this is, has not gone directly to that horrendous story but shows the effect that it has on a young girl victim trying to retain her sanity and belief in God after the experience. Expect the unexpected, leave some prejudices behind and you'll have a rewarding eighty minutes.” 
Chiswick Times on Beyond Flesh and Blood