The Bad One
September 28, 2008
Date reviewed: 25th September
Women & Theatre’s latest show; The Bad One is described as ‘a chilling and cautionary gothic fairytale’.
Fairytales that are dark or contain adult themes are nothing new. The unsanitised fairytales of old often contained these before they became the preserve of children’s bedtime stories. The witch knew that Rapunzel’s prince had been visiting when spying her pregnant belly. Prince Charming realised that the Ugly Sister wasn’t Cinderella when he saw her bleeding foot, sawn in half to fit Cindy’s tiny shoe. The fact that The Bad One features some lewd behaviour and the odd bare bum really isn’t that out of place when you compare it to what some of the original characters got up to.
The performances from the entire cast are strong. Janice Connolly particularly shines as the Grandma whose best intentions lead to tragic consequences. However, this is generally a given for the actress best known as Holy Mary in Phoenix Nights, and in stand up circles as the irrepressible Mrs Barbara Nice. Heather Pilkington also provides a strong performance as the animalistic Heidi.
The first half is well acted but a little slow, picking up during the second half as the story cautions us against the dangers of repression. The dramatic change in pace can easily be forgiven when remembering that the play is dealing with polar opposites, and the two halves reflect this. The moral is that we need to embrace both the good and the bad inside us to be whole; repression can only lead to half a life.
What is different about this particular fairytale is that writer Connolly has taken the Jeckyll and Hyde story and woven in ideas about the workings of the left and right side of the brain, as well as drawing from a wealth of experience of working with various community groups – some of them women on probation, or with mental health problems. The presiding idea is that if you repress the ‘bad’ side – the right side of the brain that is associated with creativity and impulsivity, in favour of the ‘good’ left side, associated with logic, order, patterns and low risk-taking – things can only lead to tragedy.
It’s a little contentious as a theory – some would argue that anti social and outlandish behaviour is not just down to simple left-right brain activity. Ignoring this little fly in the ointment though, the story and ideas behind it are fascinating.
Without reading the programme or hearing the after show talk, most people would not grasp the reference to the left and right side of the brain. The great thing is that it doesn’t matter whether you grasp this or not. It is easy to find parallels with the characters behaviours and with issues that are becoming more talked about today: repression, self harm, mental health disorders, gender issues, dysfunctional families – to name just a few!
The Bad One will have your brain ticking long after the paid performance has finished; a sure sign that this production has real legs.
- Star Bendick
At the Rep until 27th Sept; then on national tour until 8th Nov (including 8th Oct at the Arena; Wolverhampton)
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