Written by Phoebe Eclair-Powell
Directed by Atri Banerjee
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE
SHED:EXPLODED VIEW by Phoebe Eclair-Powell won The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2019. A brutal yet deeply intimate exploration of domestic violence, love and isolation inspired by the work of artist Cornelia Parker whose installation Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View literally shines a light on the domestic debris remaining after a explosion. The global pandemic meant a delay in the staging of this production and also spiked a horrific rise in the statistics for domestic violence making this urgent play even more powerful.
Three couples interact over a thirty year period in this nonlinear play. Time shifts back and forth denoted by each year displayed on a monitor above the stage. A highly effective minimalist set by Designer Naomi Dawson features moving concentric circles that the performers chalk scene titles onto. As they slowly move around or are smudged during the performance they subtly allude to the fragmentation and blurring of time and memory. The exposed skeleton frame of a shed is suspended over the stage and illuminated by a single huge bulb of light. Lighting Designer Bethany Gupwell uses a bank of lights to anchor each scene from home to exotic honeymoon beach or NYE fireworks and the splintered, crackling light effects on the stage are used for maximum shock effect in the scenes of violence.
The six performers have literally nowhere to hide on stage. Occasionally some sit on the sidelines on hard wooden chairs and observe scenes with the audience. On Stage sometimes they interact with the other couples, other times their words overlap as if time itself is blurring or merging past and present. The oldest couple Lil and Tony are on second and third marriages hoping to get it right this time. Naomi and Frank are newly weds who seem unsuited from the start and the seeds of disappointment and resentment are already in situ. Abi and Mark meet as students and momentarily look like they may just break the cycle and write a different story. Each couple viewed through a prism of hope could be envied and aspired to. The elderly couple holding hands…is that a lifetime of domestic bliss, love second time around or one holding the other’s hand to anchor them in this world as reality and memories splinter and disintegrate? Or the couple with their young daughter… playing happy families or desperately clinging on to the fading dream of a stable marriage and home life? The new lovers who laugh and drink together yet secretly knowing that for every time his hand tenderly holds her hair back from her face if she’s sick may also be the hand that stabbed the meat of her face with a fork.
It is the women in this piece who are drawn most vividly and drive the narrative even when they are sometimes seemingly passive. Hayley Carmicheal is quite wonderful as Lil, she initially appears to have a birdlike fragility but age and bitter experience has given her a steely core and a warrior spirit. This is a tiny woman who can tend to the vulnerable yet could potentially eviserate a hulking abusive husband. Lizzy Watts as Naomi gives a subtle performance that grows as her character ages and finishes with a blistering portrayal of grief and rage. She deftly moves from a young wife trying to please a sullen bridegroom, to a weary, anxious parent who learns to dance with her feisty daughter, navigate a difficult marriage and emerge from tragedy with a fierce sense of purpose and her own worth. Norah Lopez-Holden as Abi is always utterly invested in her character whether as a curious child, a testing teenager or as a young woman desperately attempting to redefine her deadly reality.
The two younger men feel more generic, Jason Hughes as Frank is an resentful, embittered man who seems unwilling to take responsibility for his own choices. Michael Workéyè as Tony exudes a discomforting blend of boyish charm and casual cruelty as he belittles and gaslights Abi. Wil Johnson as Tony has the most satisfying male role and gives a compelling performance as the flawed but wiser older man gifted another chance at love. His scenes are beautifully written especially as his story becomes increasingly poignant and Eclair-Powell gives a really touching insight into the strains of dementia on patients and carers at home during the pandemic.
Director Atri Banerjee deftly ensures that the many small fragmented scenes that unfold or collide come together to build a cohesive story that satisfies and intrigues just as the art installation that inspired the writing of this production. There is something incredibly powerful about examining moments in time or splinters of objects. In my day job as a Psychotherapist I often witness how a single statement or recollection can be a light bulb moment that crystallises a vital realisation for a client. As a child growing up in Northern Ireland I witnessed bomb explosions and remember my parents taking me into the aftermath of a bombed village shop to help make it ready for business as usual. Everyday objects scattered everywhere and coloured nail polish splattered on the red tiled floor amidst shards of glass and warped metal shopping baskets. The detritus of everyday life spread out telling stories of the ordinary, the extraordinary and the fragility of life especially in the face of violence. On so many levels I love the bravery and structure of this piece. It was and remains a worthy Bruntwood prize winner. SHED: EXPLODED VIEW is a sensitively rendered howl of rage and frustration that should rally us all to call out any signs of abuse and urge loved ones, neighbours, colleagues or strangers to run at the first warning signs. RUN…and don’t look back…RUN… even if it’s over broken glass.
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