That Face

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At some swanky, girls' boarding school our female Flashman (Flash-girl?) Izzy is an appropriately cowardly sadist who eventually ends up gibbering after, with help of heroine Mia, she puts a 13 year-old Arthur substitute into intensive care following an initiation rite that goes wrong. She is a fan of Radiohead's album In Rainbows, which she says she listened to constantly while writing Tusk Tusk. [17] Work [ edit ]

Jeremy Herrin's direction is as refreshing as the writing. The play flows fluidly with the cast handling scene changes. But some of the characters keep position as if they're fading out of memory as the scene changes takes place. It's a neat and highly effective transition. However, the music is a little on the loud side for my taste, albeit I can see why it needs to jar given the way the characters grate against each other in this topsy-turvy family world. Scene 5 - Mia is trying to rush Izzy out of the house as Hugh is on his way home. She stands up for Hugh when Henry speaks fouly of him. Polly Stenham is so famous for writing her debut play aged 19, that it sometimes feels like it’s become subliminally accepted that her youth was the reason ‘That Face’ was so successful. Was its West End-storming success purely industry excitement at her youth? The play received praise from some reviewers, with Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph commenting: No booking fees.Prices increase based on demand. Book early to secure your seats at the best prices.

Following the departure of her husband to a new life and family in Hong Kong, Martha's life went into nosedive, aided by a combination of drink and prescription sedatives.

The Orange Tree Theatre does sterling work in commissioning new plays and reviving those that have lapsed into obscurity. No one could say that Polly Stenham’s work as a whole is neglected or unappreciated; but it is fifteen years since her breakthrough play – ‘That Face’ – was received with critical acclaim at the Royal Court, and therefore now quite appropriate to see how it stands up in a fresh production. Regrettably, despite some superb acting, I remain unconvinced. The Manhattan Theatre Club mounted the play on its Stage I in May 2010, with Cristin Milioti and Christopher Abbott portraying the siblings, and Laila Robins as the mother. [4] Landor Theatre [ edit ] Scene 8 - Mia wants to protect Henry from Martha and stands by him when she is about to be institutionalised. Mia begins to turn against HughAnother element of Psychological Realism that Martha’s character is showing is her fear of losing Henry. This fear has made her stay in a childish state of mind. She doesn’t want to get help from a mental health clinic because she knows she wouldn’t be able to see Henry anymore. She’s also feeling threatened with the fact that Mia has shown up, she doesn’t want to share Henry with anyone, and she feels Mia is getting in the way of that. Martha also tells the family once Hugh shows up that she tried to get help from him, but he didn’t want to help her at all. He would rather send her to a cheap mental hospital where no one would know who she is. Martha is not the only one who is feeling fear. Mia is afraid for Henry because she has watched Henry throw his life away just to take care of their mother. She wants nothing more than Henry to leave their dad to handle her. She wants Henry to let go of the thought that he is responsible for Martha and that he should live a normal life. In the text, Mia tries to reason with Henry about how worried she is for his health. “You tried. You really tried, and I’ll always love you for that. But she’s worse. You can’t handle it. Look at the state of you…” (Stenham 56; Act 1.5). Mia is aware that Henry has been under a lot of pressure because of their mother, and she just wants to see him happy. However, Mia is not aware of how co-dependent Martha and Henry really are on each other. Over the course of some 95 minutes, the central theme of codependence between parents and children is rather too emphatic, too underlined. The school bullying scene is notable for Mia’s indifference to the plight of the 13-year-old victim of the older girls, while the dorm leader Izzy is convincingly self-centred and cynical. Some of the chat about hierarchies at public school is promising, but underdeveloped. On the other hand, occasionally Stenham introduces a queer sensibility, as when Martha assumes that Henry is gay because she sees him as artistic and gentle, and gender fluidity is indicated when he finishes up by wearing female clothing. Before university she worked for the Ambassador Theatre Group and the Arcola Theatre, and during this time she enrolled in the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and wrote her first play. In 2011 Stenham, along with friend Victoria Williams, opened an art gallery, [8] the Cob Studios and Gallery (named after her art collector father) in Camden, London. [9]