THEATRE

This one-person show, performed by Lucy Farrett, involves audience participation and contribution. Unfortunately, the time I went to see it the audience was small and this may have reduced the overall experience (as can happen with the most conventional theatre – weird is the experience of being part of an audience that consists only of a small handful of reviewers! But that was not the case here.)

The figure in Victorian garb at her dressing table with her back to us asks us to sit and be comfortable. She then engages us in conversation, trying to see what will stir us, what will make us tut…but we British are so reserved, and we don’t want to annoy a performer. Then she takes us into the world of her life and her memories, and we experience how different things can be when seen from the inside as opposed to the inside.

It is inevitable that this character will be seen as a “Havisham”, although the performer suggests she is not that one at one point. And I’m sure we all see Havisham as a character of great steeliness and determination, amongst other things, and not as weak in any way.

This is an intimate experience which gains from interaction between those present; it is not as intense as some Belt Up shows, but it is memorable, and what it is likely to leave you with most are images that you have seen in your head rather than ones that have been presented to you. Which is a particular kind of achievement.