Reviews

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing - Theatre Review in Bristol

Posted on: 2016-01-28

The writing is quite poetic in places, particularly at the very start and in a central section when she?s listing the men she?s met, and it?s complemented by excellent lighting and sound design.

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Vivienne Kennedy reviews A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, presented by The Corn Exchange Ireland in association with Cusack Projects Ltd at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Saturday 30th January

A Girl is a Half-formed thing, Annie Ryan’s adaptation of Eimear McBride’s award-winning novel, has itself garnered a shelf full of awards including the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award 2015. It visits Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatres following successful runs at the 2014 Dublin Theatre Festival and the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival; apart from a few tickets for Saturday’s matinee it is sold out.

Performed by Aoife Duffin, it tells the story of one Irish girl’s life, from pre-birth to the age of 20, and it’s not a happy tale. She’s been abandoned by her father, left with her bitter, spiteful mother, a woman who doesn’t hesitate to take out life’s disappointments on her daughter, saying things that no parent should ever say to their child, and her brother, her one ally, has cancer. She has an uncle. He’s the cause of a lot of her problems. There is a very final ending.

Aoife’s performance is quite amazing, shifting from character to character with little confusion (although I will say that I didn’t think that would be the case as I watched the first few minutes). There’s violence, sexually explicit material, and strong language (enough to give it an 18+ minimum age recommendation) and she looks exhausted by the end when I found myself wondering what effect playing this role for two years or more has had on her own mental wellbeing.

The writing is quite poetic in places, particularly at the very start and in a central section when she’s listing the men she’s met, and it’s complemented by excellent lighting and sound design.

A theatre review can only ever be one audience member’s personal opinion of what they’ve seen. I am very lucky, I go to the theatre a lot and see a huge range of shows from all different genres. Sometimes I enjoy a show so much that I’ll grin from ear to ear from start to finish and for several days afterwards; I knew that wouldn’t be the case with A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. Other times I emerge thinking, “I can’t say I enjoyed that, but I did appreciate it, and it did provoke my thoughts”.

I appreciated much about A Girl is a Half-formed Thing but it didn’t move me in the way I expected it to. I was dry-eyed, which is quite unusual. I just didn’t like it.

I suppose I wanted her to see a way forward…I wanted her to be left with at least one friend…one person on her side…one person who might have cared whether she lived or died. Perhaps that’s the whole point – to make us see that sometimes there is no happy ending.

I don’t just like theatre that makes me smile, a good sob can be equally satisfying, and I always hope to emerge feeling as if I’ve learnt something (ideally with a thirst to find out even more) or with a desire to find the original book and read it in one sitting. It’s even OK to come out feeling angry. Last night I left the theatre feeling a little bit down and, if I’m honest, a bit disappointed with myself for not “getting it”.

Often when I write a review I feel it’s a shame if a play only has a short run, because I want to tell everyone to go and see it and I know there isn’t the time or ticket availability. This time, I’m glad it’s pretty much sold out, because I don’t think I could put my hand on my heart and recommend it, not as a story anyway, but if you want to go and see a masterclass in fantastic acting, well, this could be the show for you.

3/5

Reviewed by Vivienne Kennedy for 365 Bristol - The leading events and entertainwebsite in Bristol

For further information please visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com

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