by Diana Miranda
Written by Angelika May, The Unicorn in Captivity is a robust tragedy that explores the methods patriarchal techniques —from the NHS to artwork establishments — diminish and fetishise the expertise of ladies grappling with power sickness.
The story follows the connection between F (May), an artwork pupil in her last yr who conceals her well being points, and M (Charlie Collinson), a photographer who as soon as gained transient popularity of his collection documenting his late mom’s most cancers. When M discovers F’s epilepsy signs, he morphs right into a predatory carer, obsessively chronicling her sickness in a determined bid for fame. While the 75-minute script may gain advantage from some trimming, the play is clearly well-informed, consists of absorbing spoken phrase, and tackles the topic of power sickness with care.
Vertebra Theatre founder Mayra Stergiou directs and weaves May’s script with sequences of heightened physicality and visible parts. Dressed in lingerie, surrounded by M’s paintings, and suffocated by the duvets she obsessively rearranges, F’s marginalisation is palpably felt. The embodied work affords surreal imagery, reminding us of Vertebra Theatre’s signature as a movement-led and extremely visible firm. In this manufacturing, nevertheless, such parts sometimes really feel extra like interludes than integral elements of the narrative, generally showing pastiched reasonably than natural.
The present is billed as in-yer-face theatre, and the male characters certainly exhibit an absence of empathy that’s nothing in need of brutal. M is portrayed as a egocentric bully, and docs are outright patronising. Such blunt character therapy, nevertheless, dangers oversimplifying the advanced energy dynamics at play, generally favouring shock worth over subtlety—for example, when M shouts at F for exhibiting signs when his cameras are off.
Despite aiming to focus on F’s struggles as she navigates the healthcare techniques, it’s M who shines brighter. His egocentric motivations are clearly drawn, evolving from a younger man coping together with her mom’s decease to an artist exploiting trauma for fame. Plus, to double down, Collinson’s efficiency is infuriatingly compelling and notably sharp.
Interestingly, in a play designed to ask empathy, its construction mirrors the very system that others F. It is as if audiences have been made compliant as an alternative of allies as we devour the story of a younger lady who fails to take company in her narrative. We’re finally left below the impression that nothing in that set belongs to her.
The Unicorn in Captivity runs via 13 July, then 30 and 31 July at Theatro Technis.
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