Schism (Finborough Theatre)

Right from her startling entrance as a schoolgirl who holds a suicidal maths teacher to ransom, Katherine is determined to ensure that the restrictions engulfing her daily life as a girl with cerebral palsy must, and will, end.

Blackmail is a tool to be used without compunction – yet the only gain she seeks is to have her natural intelligence acknowledged, and to be rescued from the special-needs wing of the school where she has been dumped because of the physical disability which restricts her speech and movement.

Playwright Athena Stevens (who has cerebral palsy herself) also stars as Katherine, and Schism follows the 20 years that take her from lairy teen to successful architect via a doomed relationship with teacher Harrison. The passing of time is marked by a soundtrack of pop classics and radio snippets of the key news stories of the time, and Emma Laxton’s sound design creates powerful snapshots of each era.

Tim Beckmann is convincing as Harrison, a complex and troubled man who seems like a nice enough guy until he finds himself unable to cope with his changing relationship.

Schism’s narrative presents a steady string of preconceptions ready to be toppled – disability doesn’t mean you can’t fall in love with your former teacher, be the one to buy the condoms, have sex – and deal with the consequences with brusque efficiency.

But Schism is more than a vehicle for demonstrating how to overcome the huge barriers faced by anyone with a physical disability. Directed with finely nuanced skill by Alex Sims, it’s also an intriguing psychological drama charting the gradual shift of power from Harrison to Katherine, whose resilience and determination propel her from life watching DVDs in a seedy bedsit to skyscraper-superstar status.

Despite its many strengths, Schism leaves some question marks. Katherine’s dismissal of the classroom ‘droolers’ seems unnecessarily brutal when those marginalised people could be harbouring their own hidden talents and wasted gifts.

And although Katherine’s ambitions trigger the ultimate failure of their relationship, there’s no clear reason why Harrison’s career and personality take such a nosedive. His original sin – giving up on his own dream of becoming an architect – becomes the bone of contention between him and Katherine, but his perfectly acceptable career in teaching fizzles out for nameless reasons.

However, Katherine’s eventual success in life, despite all the odds, has an obvious parallel in Stevens’s own achievement in writing and starring in a professional theatre production of this quality.

Schism runs at the Finborough Theatre until 14 May.