Content warning for play: sexual assault, abuse
This performance entirely rebuilds the genre of one woman plays, producing something boldly different. Havisham retells the tale of Dickens’ famously jilted woman from her own perspective, encapsulating childhood trauma and neglect to redraft the narrative of Great Expectation’s well-known antagonist.
Having fled from a damaged home, Havisham finds herself in London, out of her depth and vulnerable. It is here when writer and performer Heather Alexander cleverly intertwines subtle manipulation and susceptibility to become enthralled in a ‘romance’ that is set for a destructive and traumatic end.
While the writing was powerful, opening night nerves may have held Alexander back from reaching the full potential it offers, with a couple of little slips drawing the viewer slightly out of the action. However, these will most likely be ironed out as the run progresses and the confidence in performing what is essentially an hour-long monologue will grow.
What felt like predictable narrative still managed to create tension in a small and intimate venue in ZOO Playground, with the acting remaining encapsulating as the tragic events of a life half-lived unfold.
However, in some particularly tense scenes, those involving sexual assault or intense coercion, the piercing eye contact made by Alexander with the audience was particularly disconcerting. In this production especially it felt unnerving to have the fourth wall broken, given the roots of the writing in trauma and the gothic woman. One would not expect a National Theatre actor to stare directly into the eyes of the second row whilst shouting “no, no, please, no!”
This one-person show was backed by the clever but simple props of two crates, a sheet, a stool and, naturally if you know the original tale of Miss Havisham, a wedding dress. In any moment of abuse, Miss Havisham would seem to dissociate from the event, climbing the two steps of the stool and causing the lighting to shift from a bright white to a warmer yellow.
It was this refusal to accept suffering that crafted the telling of one of literature’s most troubled women.
Havisham is on at the ZOO Playground – Playground 1 at 7:00pm from 15 til 27 August. Tickets are available here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/havisham.
Image provided to The Student as press material.