How do you dramatise the subject of domestic violence in a way that will engage an audience? Well, you could go for the jugular and play it out with finely choreographed fight scenes or you could take the rather more subtle approach used by Laura-Kate barrow in her new one act play.
The closest we get to seeing any physical evidence of the abusive relationship Ella has with her partner is some smudged eye makeup. He certainly never appears on stage but remains a looming unseen presence, alluded to frequently but absent. We gather that the father of Ella’s child is touring with his band and, in his absence, Ella’s sister Sally makes increasingly urgent appeals that she should get him out of their lives for good.
Ultimately, however, it is through the voice of seven year old Millie that we get our greatest insights into what is actually happening in the household. Her candid observations could only be expressed by the thoughts and words of a child.
Set on an open stage with a very few props, lighting cues lead us rapidly between scenes. Millie’s favourite bedtime story is Aesop’s The Lion and the Mouse. Her mum’s repeated re-telling of this fable of co-dependency changes subtly as the play progresses and it becomes a palimpsest through which we can read Ella’s troubles. The point toward the close where Millie finally applies the tale directly to her mother’s actions is both chilling and deeply moving.
The three-strong cast assembled for this Lady Parts Theatre production all demonstrate the company’s commitment to strong female roles. Esther Dix displays the stoical weariness of balancing her increasingly testing relationship, her love for her daughter and her own self-preservation without once allowing the part to become self-pitying. Sarah Keating is by turns aloof and angry as her frustration at watching her sister’s life reaches boiling point.
Eventually it is Nuala Maguire who has us transfixed most of all with her stunning performance as the seven year old Millie. Although somewhat taller than her “mother” it is only a couple of minutes into the action that we forget we are watching an adult actor and are captivated by the child, who protects herself from the domestic mayhem surrounding her by building her own view of the world which she discusses and acts out with her family of soft toys.
Director Peter Mitchelson (who has worked with this writer previously in Bump for Shiny New Theatre) steers a deft line through the rapid shifts of atmosphere between scenes.
Laura-Kate Barrow continues to demonstrate her talent for producing dialogue that flows naturally from her characters. What is very much in evidence here is her ability to tell a story without preaching to her audience. We understand that she worked with domestic abuse support charity Refuge in researching for the play and it could have been all too easy to take a full-on assault on the subject. Allowing us to see through the eyes of a child lets us view things from another perspective. It also enables her to throw shafts of light and moments of laughter into the writing too.
This is the third piece of Laura-Kate’s work that I have seen by see my previous commentaries on Trolley-shaped Bruise and Bump. She is currently writer on attachment to Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and has contributed to the writing of The Grid for Young Everyman and Playhouse which opens at the Liverpool Everyman next week.
Following its three days at Liverpool’s Lantern, Because She Loved the Lion will transfer to the Brighton Fringe (Upstairs at Three and Ten) from 3rd to 8th May and will appear at the Kings Arms Salford on 1st June and the Little Theatre Chester on 7th June.
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