Escaped Alone/What if, if only

Escaped Alone/What if, if only

Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester

7th February to 8th March

*** Great performances from a very talented, competent cast ***

*** Caryl Churchill takes a sidewards swipe with a women’s weekly at culture and politics ***

Four St*rs from MANCHESTER THEATRICALManchester Royal Exchange present these two short plays by Caryl Churchill.

Escaped Alone - The first of tonight's two plays is a fast-paced 55minutes long.

Escaped alone, is an exciting look into the everyday and possible futures. Three women in the autumn of their lives spend an afternoon catching up in the back garden, clad in comfy leggings and clutching mugs of tea, these suburban women seem to have been plodding along quite happily in life until they invite an outsider in who tips their everyday dynamic into a strange new world, where multi coloured gas masks are the norm and feelings of discomfort around cats are discussed.

Caryl Churchill takes a sidewards swipe with a women’s weekly at culture and politics in this cleverly written script. The cast all that turns to give short poetic monologues. There’s a strange beauty to their words even when they are slightly barbed and twisted making the ordinary, uncomfortably unordinary.

Sally (Margot Leicester) has a fear of cats, Lena (Souad Faress) plans one day to make it to Japan or at least Tesco, whilst Vi (Annette Badland) has been inside for six years but was it murder?

Mrs Jarret (Maureen Beattie), the imposter to the group, who’s direct monologues are like lines from the book of revelations. Maureen brings the audience in and you feel lie you move closer before falling into some dystopian rabbit hole. We are then jarred back into a benial everyday world where lost keys and family members are the talk of the day.

These are great performances from this very talented, competent cast. The end is nigh, and these women may just have seen it coming!

What if, if only is a 30minute wonder. Explores the loss a woman - Someone (Danielle Henry) feels when her husband - Present (Lamin Touray) commits suicide. The play starts out like a letter to a loved one, and the thoughts and hopes you feel. It covered all the what ifs and their manifestations whether that be a future her (Annette Badland), a present him or a future unborn child (Bea Glancy).

I did feel like I was on some kinda acid trip at some points. You will find yourselves contemplating what you have just seen when you leave the theatre. These two short plays pack a great punch and made for a great night of theatre.