Review: NOTHING IN A BUTTERFLY, Omnibus Theatre

Raw, visceral and unflinching, Ric Renton's Nothing in a Butterfly is a deep dive into the nature of addiction and violence. Tracing the story of Rich, a juvenile delinquent from a broken home, the narrative weaves from the savage depths of the penal system to the intoxicating heights of Dubai where the protagonist finds himself living a life sustained by drugs and alcohol addiction.

Writer and actor Ric Renton is dynamic and intelligent as Rich. He does a masterful job of communicating the subtle trauma that haunts his character. With his arms almost always neatly tucked into his hoodie's front pocket, he is always defensive, anticipating the violence that lurks for him around the corner. The most poignant moment of the play is when Rich is surprised by a moment of intimacy; he cannot quite believe that a woman would ask him for his number and is unable to resist breaking out in to a boyish smile.

Director Chris White's direction is simplistic but intelligently designed to evoke the range of places and emotions that Rich traverses. Using three wooden chairs, and an ensemble cast of actors, the world created on the Omnibus Theatre's black box stage revolves around Rich and his story, heightening each emotional beat of his journey. When he visits a counsellor as a teenager the chairs are placed far apart to embellish his sense of alienation.

The ensemble cast also do a masterful job of worldbuilding. Dubai is portrayed as a narcotic haze, with the ensemble chanting Renton's semi poetic writing like a ritualistic incantation to evoke the excess and decadence for which Dubai has become known. Like New York in Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho, the place and character become entangled. Rich, as a deliberately ambiguous "salesman", effectively becomes a symbolic parallel of Dubai and its unfettered materialistic values. It is a place where everyone chases excess, where it is only natural for addiction to fester, waiting to sink its teeth into its next victim.

As Rich's cocaine addiction spirals, he becomes feverish and sweaty. Movement Director Jess Tucker Boyd does not shy away from physicalizing the bodily toll that drug addiction takes on Rich whose body contorts and spasms in ceaseless pain. But the play never loses a sense of hope, even in its darkest moments. Just as there is "nothing in a butterfly" that suggests it was once a caterpillar, everyone has the capacity the exorcise their demons and change for the better.

The play will be performed in HMP Thameside with Synergy Theatre Project, who work in prisons and with ex-prisoners. Bringing this story of redemption directly to a prison is a testament to how emotionally potent its writing and performances are.

Nothing in a Butterfly is at the Omnibus Theatre until 2 April.

https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/nothing-in-a-butterfly-2022/

Photo by Joss Ryder

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