Iris (Three Minute Theatre, Manchester)

Domestic abuse brings out a feeling of frustrated impotence in most people. It is very hard to understand why a victim of abuse does not simply walk away from the relationship.

As a result victims may attract less sympathy than they deserve. Recognising this complex situation writer Rebecca-Clare Evans (who also takes the title role) involves bystanders, as well as the abuser and abused, in her new play Iris.

To demonstrate that abuse can happen to even the strongest of people, Iris is a career woman who feels no need for a relationship. Yet she responds to Ben (Mark Smalley) and within a short time they are a couple. Worrying signs begin to develop as Ben’s possessive nature results in him abusing Iris and isolating her from friends Sarah and Tod (Francesca Kingdon and Kash Arshad).

The script shows great insight to the mind of the abuser with Ben’s manipulative qualities very convincingly constructed. His self-absorption is so great that he is able to twist reality to suit his distorted perception.

Evans actually takes the less well-developed role of Iris. The manner in which Iris is conditioned to accept abuse is comparable to being brainwashed. However, presumably to convey the confused mindset of the abused and the baffled response of bystanders, Iris’s motivation in forming the relationship with Ben remains vague. There is so little passion in the play it hard to understand the initial attraction that Ben has for Iris or indeed any woman.

The ambitious approach taken by the author results in an unwieldy structure and an over-long play that dilutes potential emotional impact. Director Natalie Kennedy ensures that the violence is realistically depicted and there is no sense of it being exploitative. But the production is so emotionally sterile that you feel numb rather than outraged.

This is a very sincere production and the producers do not seem comfortable with elements that might trivialise the subject matter. Comedy scenes in the local pub fall flat and Iris’s friends agonising over their inability to help feels contrived. Short scenes broken up by blackouts become irritating.

The care taken by the producers to show that abuse has impact well beyond those immediately involved is not matched by efforts to ensure a dramatically satisfying play.

Iris is at the Three Minute Theatre until 11 October.