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David Wurtzel reviews Anna Weiss by Mike Cullen at London E14’s My Space.
By coincidence, on my way to see AnnaWeiss, Mike Cullen’s 1997 play about a teenager who accuses her father of sexual abuse based on her memory of it as recovered through hypnotherapy, I was reading a recent Court of Appeal decision about a trial in which a teenager accused her father of sexual abuse and the defence was that the complainant’s mental illness and therapy had led her to “remember” that she must have been abused when in fact she had not.
Thus fiction dramatises our legal issues. My journey took me to a new venue, The Space, “E14’s local theatre” in a disused Victorian Presbyterian church and to a new production company, KiteHigh, launched in October 2013 and now doing its second show.
The play, only 70 minutes long, steers pretty clear of the law, though the police have become involved. The hypnotherapist, Anna, might get a hard time in a witness box. She lives with the person she is treating and repeatedly tells Lynn that all men look at all women in the same way, “as a hole to fill”. Towards the end she begins spontaneously to recover memories of her own, in a scene reminiscent of The Crucible which was still playing at the time. She makes it clear to the father that his job is to accept whatever his daughter says and to ask for her forgiveness, but not to question her belief. Since he says it all never happened, and as he has now lost his job and his wife and the neighbours throw bricks through his window, he doesn’t quite go along with this. The result is explosive (this is very physical theatre done in a very small space and I merely note that I was hit by a prop that had been sent flying). The truth remains ambiguous as dramatically it should. It ends where it began, with the women as two rather lost souls with no closure and a personal history which has taken over their lives.
The cast (Sandra Paternostra, Chloe Walshe just out of LAMDA and Charlie Haskins) are terrific and the director and Founder of KiteHigh, Abigail Pickard Price, keeps a wordy play tense. One looks forward to hearing more about all of them and hopes that The Space takes its place amongst London’s growing number of out of the way fringe theatres doing interesting plays.
David Wurtzel practised at the criminal Bar for 27 years and is a door tenant at 18 Red Lion Court. Prior to his retirement, he was a consultant in the CPD department at City Law School and consultant editor of Counsel. David is a member of the Counsel Editorial Board.
Thus fiction dramatises our legal issues. My journey took me to a new venue, The Space, “E14’s local theatre” in a disused Victorian Presbyterian church and to a new production company, KiteHigh, launched in October 2013 and now doing its second show.
The play, only 70 minutes long, steers pretty clear of the law, though the police have become involved. The hypnotherapist, Anna, might get a hard time in a witness box. She lives with the person she is treating and repeatedly tells Lynn that all men look at all women in the same way, “as a hole to fill”. Towards the end she begins spontaneously to recover memories of her own, in a scene reminiscent of The Crucible which was still playing at the time. She makes it clear to the father that his job is to accept whatever his daughter says and to ask for her forgiveness, but not to question her belief. Since he says it all never happened, and as he has now lost his job and his wife and the neighbours throw bricks through his window, he doesn’t quite go along with this. The result is explosive (this is very physical theatre done in a very small space and I merely note that I was hit by a prop that had been sent flying). The truth remains ambiguous as dramatically it should. It ends where it began, with the women as two rather lost souls with no closure and a personal history which has taken over their lives.
The cast (Sandra Paternostra, Chloe Walshe just out of LAMDA and Charlie Haskins) are terrific and the director and Founder of KiteHigh, Abigail Pickard Price, keeps a wordy play tense. One looks forward to hearing more about all of them and hopes that The Space takes its place amongst London’s growing number of out of the way fringe theatres doing interesting plays.
David Wurtzel reviews Anna Weiss by Mike Cullen at London E14’s My Space.
By coincidence, on my way to see AnnaWeiss, Mike Cullen’s 1997 play about a teenager who accuses her father of sexual abuse based on her memory of it as recovered through hypnotherapy, I was reading a recent Court of Appeal decision about a trial in which a teenager accused her father of sexual abuse and the defence was that the complainant’s mental illness and therapy had led her to “remember” that she must have been abused when in fact she had not.
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The Chief Legal Officer to the Metropolitan Police, barrister Brett Welch, tells Anthony Inglese CB about his mission and the work to turn the Met around
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Born from a grievance, their research project grew into a book and is now challenging the status quo. Emma Price and Emma-Louise Fenelon reveal the key findings – and the critical next steps
Grok around and find out – or not? Mariya Peykova investigates the nudification scandal, what the law has to say about sexually explicit deepfakes, and whether stronger regulation is needed
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
