Escaped Alone & What If, If Only: Theatre Review

by Sacha Crowther

“It shouldn’t feel radical to put female characters over seventy years old centre stage but it still does.” - Sarah Frankcom, Director.

Escaped Alone forms the first instalment of this two-part evening. Three older women take their seats on a garden lawn. A fourth arrives to join the group. The show appears, at first, to be little more than a conversation between friends, played out in real time. But with no time to lose, it evolves into a politically-charged, apocalyptic vision.

Fuelled by Caryl Churchill’s fast-paced cut-off lines, the foursome leap from topic to topic in a charmingly familiar fashion. From the banality of what they’re watching on telly or their family dynamics, to superpowers, compulsions, and confessions, no subject is off limits. Crafted with a poetic abstraction, there’s an underlying gravitas to each line. Each character seems to refer to something else entirely - unlocking the thought-provoking, often satirical corners of the play.

Three actresses in a dark room with bold spotlights separating the woman standing — Maureen Beattie as the soothsayer amongst the group of women. *Escaped Alone.*

Escaped Alone features very limited movement or any major scene changes. Yet, through a piercing application of spotlights, the show leaps from conversation to declamation. Punctuating the often playful chatter come chilling apocalyptic soliloquies from Mrs Jarrett. Obsessed with the destruction and desolation unfolding beyond the microcosm of this garden tea party, Maureen Beattie is suitably unsettling.

Despite her visible status as an outsider of the group, Mrs Jarrett is not the only one with an obsessive secret or an eye on the outside world. Representing unique mental afflictions, each of the four women offer up intense soliloquies of their own. In this show, every cast member must earn their seat!

Just as quickly as the dramatic lighting shifts, the mood leaps straight back into quickfire dialogue, often to excellent comedic effect. Annette Badland, in particular, finds lightness against the surrounding dark. Indeed, in contrast to a very sombre opening and some challenging themes throughout, Escaped Alone offers unexpected doses of laughter.

Combining two short plays immediately sets the audience’s brain cogs whirring, seeking parallels and interconnections. Characters rarely finish a thought or a phrase entirely, which leaves just about everything open to interpretation.

A seemingly friendly future seduces a lost, grieving woman. *What If, If Only.*

If the first play of the evening centres itself in the past - reminiscing and considering what could have been done differently, then the second play looks to the future - chewing through the possibilities, and the fear that comes with the unknown.

Clever design, by Rose Revitt, takes us to a space seemingly beneath the garden lawn of the first play. Danielle Henry is the unnamed lead in What If, If Only. Confined to a small, sunken square in the centre of the stage, she explores every inch of the space, bouncing off the walls and struggling to still her mind. Beyond the limits of her living room lies the realm of the ethereal. Non-existent and potential futures swarm in and out of the space, inviting, taunting, and slowly dragging Henry’s character beyond the emotions that consume her present.

Futures range from charming, endearing figures (Badland), to a crowd of overwhelming, even menacing alternatives. What If, If Only is short, punchy, and dialled up to the height of intensity throughout. With barely a moment to take a breath, this short play offers a plot condensed and distilled to remove any ounce of gratuitous theatrical filler.

It’s a fascinating experience to drink in theatre as a high-ABV shot. In less than 90 minutes of stage-time combined, these two short plays take on the complexities of mental illness, ageing, grief, and loneliness.

An overriding sense of uncertainty plagues the characters and leaves the audience to grapple more than usual with their individual interpretations. But, what remains undeniably clear is that Frankcom’s cast achieve the director’s intention to “celebrate the emotional and intellectual dexterity that only older actresses can bring to live performance.”

Escaped Alone and What If If Only play at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester until Saturday 8th March. For tickets and more information, visit the RX Theatre website.