Semblance of Madness
Etcetera Theatre, London

Shirley Dent

White light can be very, very bright. The opening of Semblance of Madness makes good use of a low light pulsing into the blinding sterile light of the lunatic asylum. It literally shocks the eye into another space.

What I could not stomach was the appearance of three bright young things clad in the white of mental institution inmates. Too often we see madness paraded as the ultimate expression of a beautiful soul, the recent Sylvia being a point in case. It isn't. It's a personal tragedy, an individual catastrophe that is terrifying and terrible. Lear's 'let me not be mad' is no throwaway line.

That all of the patients in Semblance's ensemble are trim, vibrant young women seems to be playing the Girl, Interrupted card. This impression was not diminished by some free expression posturing at the start and a batting back-and-forth of lines in danger of turning an embarrassing shade of purple-puce, such as one patient's stated desire 'to imagine and obtain'. None of the pointed and poignant terror of Lear here.

But stick with it. The premise of the play is interesting: one of the patients is an undercover nurse, seeking to find out if another patient is a murderer. This toys with what we think madness is and how it manifests itself. The double whammy here is that the nurse's investigation takes place in a drama therapy session taken by a patient who was once an acclaimed actress. These theatrical types! Crazy, eh?

The ensemble playing by Toni Darlow, Kathryn O'Reilly and Toni Arber is strong and the performances pack a punch, particularly Kathryn O'Reilly as the bullish, multiple personality-ridden Jones.

What I doubt this play gives us is any real semblance of a mind deranged. Not many plays will. We couldn't bear to watch.

Till 15 February 2004