*/
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Clean Break
Running until 30 November 2019 at the Donmar Theatre
‘Blank’ is 100 largely unconnected scenes written by Alice Birch to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Clean Break, the estimable theatre company which for 40 years has ‘used theatre to transform the lives of women with experience in the criminal justice system’, including of course being in prison. The production team at the Donmar chose 30 of these scenes to enact and were free to decide the playing order. It makes for an absorbing evening (two hours without interval) but these are really snapshots, usually unconnected to a previous or subsequent scene. The cast play a number of parts. It is not a conventional play with plot or character development.
Director Maria Aberg and a brilliant cast of 14 women and two young girls rise to the occasion. Over and over again, they plunge straight in, with intense and sometimes harrowing emotion. They are assisted by a clever and highly adaptable double height set designed by Rosie Elnile.
What is powerfully brought home is a litany of what some women endure. Mental illness, infanticide, domestic violence, drug addiction and appalling parenting are all there. A drug addict tries to burgle her parents’ home and is later seen soliciting for prostitution and later still having to be fatally subdued in gaol. A vulnerable woman naively falls in love with a violent man; in due course she tries but fails to get into a refuge.
The longest sequence is ‘Dinner Party’ which involves the entire cast. They are non-victims including a police officer who arrests violent men and a lawyer who sometimes defends them. They feast on dishes like fattoush salad presumably from the Ottolenghi cook book. Cases of wine arrive (by bicycle) as does cocaine. It is 40 minutes of superb ensemble playing but it is a long time before we get to the debating point. A guest becomes more and more upset at what she sees. Finally she announces that she has just gone upstairs and urinated on her hostess’s sleeping child. She hasn’t but she has her reasons: ‘My mother did piss on me and I am fully capable of controlling my bladder. I am able not to repeat her patterns of behaviour. I am able to choose not to hurt others despite the fact that my mother effectively taught me to.’ She accuses the others of saying the right thing and being aware of what is awful, ‘in order to buy yourself the time and the life to do absolutely nothing of worth or meaning or good in the world’.
It should be a moment of moral conflict but somehow that does not quite happen. Eventually the scene terminates with what might be a child actor’s favourite role. One of the little girls comes out with a baseball bat, stands on a chair and smashes up the dinner table, fattoush salad and all.
To book and for more information please visit: https://bit.ly/2NYTtG4
The Donmar is supported by their Principal Sponsor, Barclays
Reviewer David Wurtzel
David 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.
‘Blank’ is 100 largely unconnected scenes written by Alice Birch to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Clean Break, the estimable theatre company which for 40 years has ‘used theatre to transform the lives of women with experience in the criminal justice system’, including of course being in prison. The production team at the Donmar chose 30 of these scenes to enact and were free to decide the playing order. It makes for an absorbing evening (two hours without interval) but these are really snapshots, usually unconnected to a previous or subsequent scene. The cast play a number of parts. It is not a conventional play with plot or character development.
Director Maria Aberg and a brilliant cast of 14 women and two young girls rise to the occasion. Over and over again, they plunge straight in, with intense and sometimes harrowing emotion. They are assisted by a clever and highly adaptable double height set designed by Rosie Elnile.
What is powerfully brought home is a litany of what some women endure. Mental illness, infanticide, domestic violence, drug addiction and appalling parenting are all there. A drug addict tries to burgle her parents’ home and is later seen soliciting for prostitution and later still having to be fatally subdued in gaol. A vulnerable woman naively falls in love with a violent man; in due course she tries but fails to get into a refuge.
The longest sequence is ‘Dinner Party’ which involves the entire cast. They are non-victims including a police officer who arrests violent men and a lawyer who sometimes defends them. They feast on dishes like fattoush salad presumably from the Ottolenghi cook book. Cases of wine arrive (by bicycle) as does cocaine. It is 40 minutes of superb ensemble playing but it is a long time before we get to the debating point. A guest becomes more and more upset at what she sees. Finally she announces that she has just gone upstairs and urinated on her hostess’s sleeping child. She hasn’t but she has her reasons: ‘My mother did piss on me and I am fully capable of controlling my bladder. I am able not to repeat her patterns of behaviour. I am able to choose not to hurt others despite the fact that my mother effectively taught me to.’ She accuses the others of saying the right thing and being aware of what is awful, ‘in order to buy yourself the time and the life to do absolutely nothing of worth or meaning or good in the world’.
It should be a moment of moral conflict but somehow that does not quite happen. Eventually the scene terminates with what might be a child actor’s favourite role. One of the little girls comes out with a baseball bat, stands on a chair and smashes up the dinner table, fattoush salad and all.
To book and for more information please visit: https://bit.ly/2NYTtG4
The Donmar is supported by their Principal Sponsor, Barclays
Reviewer David Wurtzel
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Clean Break
Running until 30 November 2019 at the Donmar Theatre
The Bar Council continues to call for investment for the justice system and represent the interests of our profession both at home and abroad
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
AlphaBiolabs has made a £500 donation to Sean’s Place, a men’s mental health charity based in Sefton, as part of its ongoing Giving Back initiative
Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Little has changed since Burns v Burns . Cohabiting couples deserve better than to be left on the blasted heath with the existing witch’s brew for another four decades, argues Christopher Stirling
Six months of court observation at the Old Bailey: APPEAL’s Dr Nisha Waller and Tehreem Sultan report their findings on prosecution practices under joint enterprise
The Amazonian artist’s first international solo exhibition is wholly relevant to current issues in social and environmental justice, says Stephen Cragg KC
Despite its prevalence, autism spectrum disorder remains poorly understood in the criminal justice system. Does Alex Henry’s joint enterprise conviction expose the need to audit prisons? asks Dr Felicity Gerry KC
It’s been five years since the groundbreaking QC competition in which six Black women barristers, including the 2025 Chair of the Bar, took silk. Yet today, the number of Black KCs remains ‘critically low’. Desirée Artesi talks to Baroness Scotland KC, Allison Munroe KC and Melanie Simpson KC about the critical success factors, barriers and ideas for embedding change
