I’m Drowning Not Waving
First, the title Naked and Screaming is only half correct – there is no naked (in the no clothes sense), and really the screaming comes from the loud, umm, discussions the couple has. So don’t expect a yelling version of Hair.
Which is a good thing.
Naked and Screaming is a tough play to watch. For all the right reasons. Well, watch isn’t exactly the right word either. Because it’s as if I am reliving every argument I’ve ever had. Mark Rogers has written a pitch perfect play that encapsulates the frustrations and fights of contemporary relationships – from whose job “matters” more to who is responsible for the housework. Throw in parenthood and it is a perfect storm.
It’s a simple play. Emily (Emily Burton) Simon (Jackson McGovern) and have just had a baby. There are the usual I-don’t-know-what-to-do father laughs. But they soon stop. The jokes and the loving shrink when Simon goes on a work trip and Emily spirals into loneliness and isolation—not exactly a post-partum depression but along those lines.
It’s a brutal play. No punches are pulled. This is life at its rawest and while the noise level doesn’t reach Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf level, it’s pretty close.
It’s a minimalist play. The set design is pared back: a giant mobile, a storage ottoman that doubles as a bed, and a box of toys is it (Chloe Greaves). Lighting is sparse and costuming is realistic. It’s as if we’re looking in ‘every home’.
The actors have a difficult job. Ten minutes of light banter and fun and seventy minutes of gut-wrenching confrontation. Burton and McGovern do a fabulous job and don’t lose the pace or drop the intensity. It must be exhausting. Kudos to director Sanja Simi? for keeping the acting tight.
Naked and Screaming should be seen by new parents, pregnant couples and anyone who needs to know that what they’re going through is totally normal.
Naked and Screaming, La Boite Theatre, 6-28 February, 80 minutes
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