However, as the play was first produced in its present form over a decade ago, its unconventional and deliberately disconcerting two act form and mysterious unravelling is well documented.
A Quote from Neilson in the pre-publicity suggests a kind of Alice in Wonderland but with more sex and violence, and he has also been known to liken the first act to the Wizard of Oz. But the Alice reference seems very clear as the chief protagonist, Lisa Jones, descends not so much down a rabbit hole as in an elevator in search of an hour she has lost. It seems that she crossed the date line in a plane at the same time as the clocks went back – don’t worry – it all becomes clear, but not until after the interval.
On her unlikely quest Lisa meets a range of fantastical characters, from a pair of insecurity guards (possibly channelling Tweedledum and Tweedledee) to a scapegoat and singing polar bear. The people of the land of Dissocia in which she finds herself seem domineered by a mad queen with a penchant for oatcakes and dogged by unhelpful public servants all working to their own peculiar brand of logic.
It is only in act two that everything falls into place but not until the audience is led perplexingly back into the auditorium via a completely different route, to find the room changed almost beyond recognition. In this much shorter segment (barely more than a quarter of the whole play) every scene recalls to mind the characters and events of act one as we learn of Lisa’s struggle to cope with mental illness.
It is deeply moving stuff, but served up with copious amounts of surreal humour, and it is to the huge credit of YEP under the direction of Chris Tomlinson that they not only pull it off but do so with tremendous success.
Lisa is played by Naimh McCarthy (Wed & Thur) and Poppy Hughes (Fri & Sat) and it is staggering to think that both actors have prepared the weighty part for just two performances, while doubling other roles on their other nights. I managed to see one performance by each of them and was struck by the way that both made the part their own while entirely buying in to the director’s concept of the piece.
A multi-skilled cast who I am not going to begin to count because of the complicated role-doubling (but there are a dozen or so of them!) succeed in bringing lucidity to the host of weird and wonderful characters they play while demonstrating again the company’s strong use of stage movement, bringing the tiny Studio space to vivid life. We even discover musical talents including a saxophonist and a beat boxer in their midst.
Along with our two Lisas, there are some very strong performances, including Isobel Balchin’s stoical Jane and Alice Corrigan’s Britney. The two insecurity guards James Bibby and Stuie Dagnall at first appear as likely candidates for the panto, but Bibby later turns to a far darker form of comedy and Dagnall also gives us a really delicate performance as Lisa’s partner Vince. Elliot Davis shows remarkable skill and subtlety of movement, with every twitch and blink carefully measured.
Set, lighting and sound designs are to the same high standards of imagination and technical skill that we’ve come to expect from YEP.
There is a great deal to remember this production for, from its fearless approach to discussing not just Dissociative Identity Disorder but mental health in general, to the sheer joy of seeing so much emerging talent displayed again by this vibrant company. YEP continue to offer us an optimistic view of the future of Liverpool’s Everyman and Playhouse.
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| YEP publicity design for The Wonderful World of Dissocia |
