Thinking on how art can transmute pain and how in thus communicating your experiences in a way that doesn’t centre around a cold room full of strangers and a slightly scary group leader that wants you to ‘share’, seeing Mess at Battersea Arts Centre made me rejoice again in what art can do.
Caroline Horton, the writer & performer has written a play about her experience with anorexia that is whimsical, funny & enchanting in parts. I rejoice in the fact that this play has been touring and school workshops are being touted off the back of it.
In many ways, even if you take away the serious message, it is a perfect Fringe play. By which I mean it has a great pianist for musical enhancement and comic relief (Seiriol Davis who trained in actor created theatre – who knew there was such a course!) and then the long suffering friend Boris, played by Hannah Boyde, giving a masterclass in subtle subtext acting, who echoed the audience’s lack of understanding of the mental illness.Plus at a 70 minute show, which could have been cut a little for pace, it gets its point across with time for dinner.
Mess production still
It has been finely worked and I loved the set and direction by Alex Finch, light particularly the almost Tardis like light of the imaginary fridge and great use of the audience and space. The device of Josephine’s white tower that she kept herself remote from the world with, was particularly effective as it not only meant that we got the point of her distance and the fairy tale fashion connotations but also all three sides of the audience could see her.
We need more plays like this that teach without a heavy hand, that wave a brush of compassion, understanding and hope over us all as we leave. For me the value of any creative work I personally do is gauged by how much the audience is changed when they leave, so Mess certainly gets five stars on that measures as well as others.
When I got home that night Boris’s words ‘but what does it (the illness) give you’ really echoed in my head so much that I had to write an extra couple of blog posts in my series of Dream, Create & make money in the creative arts.
Well done as well for Battersea Arts Centre for co-commissioning this play as well as their marketing; their Tweet Tix (so free tickets to those who Retweet first) is a great move, they certainly will get audiences who already have quick to tweet fingers.
I have to say that I found this on their website and judging by MESS they are absolutely fulfilling their own creative brief
It is on til the 1st June, Ticket link here,
Tags: review
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