The B*easts at The Bush Theatre is Better Than Therapy

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Liz Vercoe reviews local actress and playwright Monica Dolan's mind-tingling new play

The mother and daughter she'd be talking about with such frankness are Karen and Lila, both creations of, well, Tracy's own creator, actress and this play's author, Monica Dolan.

On a stage empty but for a tub chair and lamp table, Dolan brings to life psychotherapist Tessa, who for the next 65 minutes unburdens herself to the audience about a most complex ethical case concerning Karen and Lila. It's a gripping performance, her voice waxing and waning with the stresses she feels at untangling events, expressing the surprise, the anger and anxiety.

The rich Tracy Pritchard-esque humour is there, too, in the confidential aside about her e-cig habit or a raised eyebrow at us over a telephone call taken from her husband or child, all the while winding the audience in like a ball of wool at the foot of the guillotine. For you never quite know where the argument will take you next, or even what your own judgement will be on arrival.

The B*easts, first seen at the Edinburgh Festival 2017, extrapolates a fictional situation from a world we already know and, with more or less resistance, accept. Where pre-pubescent girls successfully nag their parents to look more grown up, whether that means wearing a hijab or make-up and high heels. Where it is not considered surprising that very young children are able to express their desire to transition from one gender identity to another. Where in France there is (as yet) no minimum age of consent as long as sex is not violent or coerced. Where the most talked about people other than politicians and the occasional footballer are invariably stars – real or reality ­– trading on their glamour. And where even small children are bombarded by marketing messages that say your looks are your passport to a full life. It's only a small hypothetical stretch to Karen and Lila's predicament.

Who, psychotherapist Tessa challenges us to consider, is at fault when a child is helped to break from what is deemed socially "usual" by its (loving) parent. Is the parent always to blame if society disapproves of the end result? Does society simply prefer to blame parenting in order to preserve a misplaced concept of childhood "innocence".

But, then, what if the child has actually remained an innocent, but superficial changes are misinterpreted as an invitation by malign adults? Is the parent still to blame? How can criticism come from the very same society which, with its me, me, me and more, more, more messages, has manipulated the attitudes of the parent and the child, in the first place?

All this – and much more – packed into just over an hour (rather than just under an hour like most therapy sessions!) but you'll be talking about it for days...or gasping for an e-cig.

The B*easts, suitable for ages 14+ continues at the Bush Theatre, at 7 Uxbridge Road until 3 March at 7.30pm, with additional matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm. There is a post-show Q&A on Thursday, February 22 and a captioned performance on Thursday 1 March. Find out more and book tickets here or call the box office on 020 8743 5050.

 

February 19, 2018