JADAR

★★★★★

For the hysterical and the shell shocked, The City of Incurable Women is worth dropping all plans for. The play, which was written by Helena McBurney and directed by Christina Deinsberger, is fast-paced, ending at around 60 minutes.

As the audience entered the room, there was a large plastic tarp covering the ground, a microphone, and metal framing upstage. Our performer is onstage, moving and repeating actions slowly. The company proudly promotes an entire run of all relaxed performances, making the space feel immediately warm and welcoming. As a theatre company, this was already above and beyond all expectations, which they should be highly commended for. 

Lights dim on BAFTA nominee Charlotte McBurney she paces through the room restlessly, before turning to the audience to deliver a chipper safety demonstration about female hysteria and all safety points to calm us down, including a high definition showcase of an ovarian compressor. After a delightful safety demonstration, we landed in Paris, in the 1880s, sat inside of a psychiatric hospital where dozens of women were forced to perform ‘hysteria.’ McBurney transforms herself into 

The concept of the production is one of a kind, following the history of hysteria, making audiences complicit in the actions taking place on stage. The show reads as several characters interjecting and mingling with one another’s psyché’s, but it begins as a history lecture about the horrors of medical misogyny and the fight for modern psychological treatment.

Charlotte McBurney delivers an exceptional performance as all characters: 19th century scientists, “hysterical” women, chirpy flight attendants, and overwhelmingly positive American saleswomen. The fast paced nature of the show is sometimes difficult to follow, leaving audiences almost confused with the narrative, acting as an intentional narrative piece. This initial confusion acting as a guide for audiences in questioning their experience was disarming and truly brilliant. 

Without a doubt, this production was one of the most impressive shows I have seen. Every aspect of the show was utterly brilliant, from the writing to the acting and a haunting aural soundscape. I was blown away when McBurney started speaking over a pre-recorded musical piece, allowing her voice to transform into the background beat for a spoken word piece, catapulting audiences into the world of the female patients. The script then cites specific stories of women who were paraded around psychiatric hospitals in “hysteria demonstrations,” where McBurney shows a true level of compassion and breaks down to the audience. The play was devised by Fish in a Dress and you could truly tell every single creative involved with this show is dripping with brilliance.

Coping with deeply disturbing stories with brightly saturated comedy is starkly human, and this show found the balance exceptionally. The show is a sharp and witty triumph, with the most impressive physical performance I have seen on stage. Charlotte McBurney went from peeling and eating a whole lemon on stage without flinching to performing a beautiful movement piece of twisting and writhing, to casually mentioning late-comers sitting down 15 minutes late without missing a beat. It was astonishing watching her flick between multiple characters, emotions, representations of characters. It was everything a contemporary show should be: unique, well-researched, funny and devastating.

The show was captivating from costume to sound, truly making a show that has never been seen before. If you see one show this month, let it be this one.

The City for Incurable Women runs at HOME (Theatre 1) until April 4, the last stop of its UK tour.