Show: Schism
Society: Park Theatre (professional)
Venue: Park 90, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, N4 3JP
Credits: By Athena Stevens. Produced by Aegis Productions in association with Park Theatre.
Type: Sardines
Author: Frank Kaye
Performance Date: 17/05/2018
Schism
Frank Kaye | 18 May 2018 20:49pm
Schism is fringe theatre at its best. You arrive into the performance space and you are immediately enveloped in a mist lit in angular orange lights. There is a man slumped on a sofa in the corner, a desk at another corner with a practical light and strange incoherent sounds. You know that the play is a two-hander and that one, the actress and writer of the play, Athena Stevens, has athetoid cerebral palsy. You may not know exactly what that is, but you think it might make for challenges that may or may not be overcome.
The play begins with a statement of the drama from Harrison, played with measured emotional control throughout by Jonathan McGuiness. It becomes clear that the play will be a linear narrative in flashback. It would also appear that the radio broadcast will punctuate the progress of the play although for this reviewer, that it was a signpost to time passing, was not entirely clear, or indeed necessary. At times one was distracted into wondering if the rights or wrongs of the Iraq War were relevant to the story.
The real tension lay in the entrance of Athena Stevens. As a Brechtian director myself it is, first and foremost, the actor who is on the stage and never have I been confronted with the reality of that fact more strongly. The character of Katherine comes later but now we need to know what our evening is going to be like and if we will be carried along on a dramatic journey or whether we will struggle. For me the initial few minutes were not good. I could not see Athena’s face and her words were unintelligible. That said the tension was palpable and, like an explicit moment later in the play, the fact that the source of that tension was ambiguous was immaterial. For me, and I think for the whole audience given the ovation that the performance received at the end, the tension turned to joy that this remarkable actress was going to be capable of generating some unique theatrical moments. That this uniqueness comes partly from her disability is surely a positive feature. That said I’m sure that Athena and, indeed the character, Katherine, would cheer that I did not find her performance inspirational – she is a powerful actress playing opposite a powerful actor.
One of the most engaging moments in the play is when they build a piece of furniture together. As with many new plays, the script is incorporated in the programme and a stage direction at this point is – Due to her athetoid movements, it’s never going to happen. In many ways the whole theatrical experience turns on this stage direction. This play is written to be performed by someone who fits that description and is written by someone who fits that description. Here are some questions: What do think about people with cerebral palsy? Are they less intelligent than normal people? Does their disability limit what they can do? How do you communicate with them? Are they sexually attractive? Well this play explicitly asks you those questions and in the main points to encouraging answers.
For me the key to the success of this production is the vulnerability of the actors. They expose themselves in both mental and physical ways that draw the audience into the aesthetic experience. Interestingly, the play has an interval which works very well. It allows the audience to process what they are experiencing and, especially because Athena/ Katherine’s vulnerability is immutable, in the second half the atmosphere is instantly recreated. For me, art becomes art when the artist puts it in the public domain. Athena Stevens, the playwright and the actor, puts the walk of a person with athetoid cerebral palsy on the stage and it is mesmerising.
This play was originally staged at the Finborough Theatre and reading between the lines it would appear that there has been a significant rewrite. The rewrite has put much more of the polemic of the play in the words of Harrison and put a necessary separation between Athena Stevens the actor and herself as playwright. The staging is completely different with a much more immersive set and Expressionist mood which works beautifully though occasionally weighing heavily on the lighter moments of the play. The director, Lily Mcleish, has created a brilliant piece of theatre along with her other collaborators. The methods of her mentor, Katie Mitchell, in building a detailed understanding of the world of the play and the playwright before “getting it on its feet”, are gloriously in evidence.
In summary, on the one hand this is a play like no other but on the other hand it is a play like any other. A transition takes place early in the second act when the story becomes dominant and you really want to know what happens next. Ultimately the play is about power relations and is at times very evocative of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? In that case the rage of the female protagonist is fuelled by failure – in this it is fuelled by success. Intrigued? – You should be. – Get along and see this stimulating production!
- : admin
- : 17/05/2018