BWW catches up with Jenna Fincken to chat about bringing Ruckus to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Tell us a bit about Ruckus.
Ruckus is a one-woman thriller exploring the suppression and destruction caused by coercive control. The audience follows Lou, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, who's completely aware the audience are watching her. In fact, she wants them there. She wants to show them the exact moments in her relationship, breaking down the progression of coercive control. And finally ask the audience, did they see it?
How does the audio of the play impact the audience?
An important element I wanted to bring forward in Ruckus is how Lou's perspective of reality becomes distorted. By having the incredibly talented Tingying Dong as our sound designer, this is then focused in the audio of the play. Aiming to impact the audience by them experiencing the sensations of being in a coercively controlled relationship.
Why is it important to tell this story?
Coercive control is a global issue that is still not widely recognised, yet its side effects kill up to three women every week in the UK. In Scotland, the police receive a call about domestic violence every nine minutes. Only in 2015 was coercive control made a criminal offence for England and Wales, and there are still so many countries that have no laws against this. This story has been born out of the need to shout about the dangers of coercive control.
Who would you like to come and see it?
First of all, for anyone that loves a thriller, drama and storytelling - this is for you.
Then for anyone who doesn't know what coercive control is or wants to learn more - the show welcomes you. Would love to add, I'd recommend anyone who is considering seeing the show to read the Ruckus Self-Care Guide and Content Warnings (this can be found on our Wildcard website). I created this guide to help audiences experiencing the show, and support planning for anyone who may be concerned about their visit.
What do you hope audiences take away from it?
Knowledge of coercive control. Growing up, we're not taught in schools what is a healthy or toxic relationship (I mean, my teacher just taught chess on Friday mornings...). So, it's inevitable that we fall into the system of power in our society which enables the actions of perpetrators. I really do hope that, through telling the story of Ruckus, audiences go back and spot the signs of coercion. Then bring this awareness in their life. Question their personal relationships. And most importantly, know there is help out there (resources provided in the Self-Care Guide).
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