Lloyd Newson, the artistic director of English physical theatre/dance company DV8, has created numerous works that defy artistic definition while questioning mainstream society’s norms, values and judgments.

He has described his current work as “verbatim” theatre: inspired by the words of individuals interviewed by the artistic team.

The R18+ John – a British theatre production filmed for the cinema as part of the National Theatre Live project – is based on a real John whose father raped his wife, daughter and the babysitter, and who cruelly beat his sons.  DV8’s John is (not surprisingly, given the company and the content) a hard-hitting, confronting piece of work.

Despite the unpleasantness of the subject matter, DV8 finds ways of presenting the issues and characters artistically: John is largely a monologue but there is not a moment when the performers on stage aren’t moving in a way that complements or enhances the words.

The performer who plays John is exceptional – he could easily pass as an actor for a believable criminal who has done time but, in addition to his characterisation and narration, he moves superbly. It may be while he reminisces about the women he has had relationships with as he dances and tenderly caresses dresses on coat-hangers dropped down from above, as he sits at a desk doing a test and moving jerkily to the rhythms of a metronome, or with his feet in boots secured to the floor so he can extend and distort his body as he loudly knocks on someone’s door. It is an exceptional performance.

The set is a series of interior wooden walls with bare shelving, doors and corridors which allow the imagination to accept the characters moving quickly into a variety of locations: the family home, interview rooms, a jail, a bedroom, a sauna and a gym. The talented cast members speak and move as they explore some very tough themes and difficult, complex human experiences. DV8’s clever staging includes simple devices such as a low wall screen that makes it look as though John is exercising vigorously in prison in a desperate bid to lose weight.

The company makes physical impossibilities appear effortless: the brothers physically intertwine and connect fluidly as John explains his family’s dysfunctionality; one man captures another in his T-shirt, then they somehow exchange who is wearing the shirt; the authorities and John create a “conveyer belt” as they speak, and John conveys his distress about a relationship as he lies on a mattress with two bottles.

Through John, we come to understand a violent drug addict as someone who has had a tough life and not treated others well but who, in essence, is a person searching for himself and a companion. Ultimately, John explores his homosexuality and lengthy scenes are spent in a sauna explaining at length, and in detail, about gay, bisexual and straight men’s behaviour. The final words from the real John, describing his journey in searching for his connection with another, are poignant.

John has been made possible by the National Theatre Live program which brings the best of British Theatre to the cinema, filmed and presented as if the cinema-goer was attending a live performance. In many ways the clever camera angles and filming style allow everyone to feel as though they have the best seats in the house.

If you can’t attend the actual live performance, these live broadcasts provide a unique alternative.

John will be screening again at Palace Nova Eastend on January 21 as part of the National Theatre Live series. The next NT Live film will be Of Mice and Men, starring James Franco and Chris O’Dowd, which will screen from January 24-28.