Review: WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU, Park Theatre

When I walked out of When It Happens to You, all I wanted to do was hug my sisters. Part of me had forgotten I had seen a show, the other part couldn’t stop thinking about the last twenty minutes of it. That’s the sign of good theatre. Theatre that lights a fire underneath you, theatre that gets inside your head – such a reaction can only come from something truly impactful.  

When It Happens to You at Park200 isn’t perfect, but I have no doubt it deserves its platform, and one even bigger, and is a story every single person who watches it can learn something from. 

Tawni O’Dell's true story follows mother, Tara’s, life following the rape of her daughter. It is a nuanced, heartbreaking, and infuriating insight into the destructive nature of such an act. As we follow Tara, her partner Ethan, son Connor, and daughter Esme, we learn that this crime is not isolated to its victim but permeates through the lives of everyone who surrounds her. Even if this wasn’t a true story, dramatising such trauma is a difficult task – is it too triggering, is it triggering enough? However, O’Dell’s script is sensational. It is constantly thought-provoking, surprisingly funny, and offers a sensitive form of education. 

Tara explains that the crime of rape doesn’t fade but rather “it metastasises”. At this moment, we fully understand the weight of something that happens to one in four women. I shuffle in my chair, there’s a woman next to me, I spoke to her before the show. I think of my mum and my sisters. The work of the playwright is done. 

O’Dell's triumphant script is only further illuminated by the play’s excellent cast. Amanda Abbington delivers an acting masterclass as Tara. She is acrobatic in her portrayal; I was spellbound by her heartbreak. Rosie Day, Miles Molan, and Tok Stephen are constantly engaged and engaging and form a machine around Abbington. 

Director Jez Bond is responsible for this well-oiled machine. His directing – complimented by Melanie Wilson's pulsing sound design - is slick, provoking, and meticulous. It’s very clever, if not too clever for its own good. Every beat is considered, and it becomes almost clinical. While it works for the most part, at times I felt it removed necessary emotion from the dialogue and didn’t allow scenes to hold the power they deserved. 

Rape is a violent crime, with silent suffering. Very often, we cannot see the consequences it bares on its victim, and those around them. Without the right interventions, it’s a destructive force of nature. When It Happens to You is one of those right interventions. It’s the beginning of crucial dialogue on the matter.

It is our responsibility to expose the injustices around us and begin enacting necessary change. Booking a ticket to When it Happens to You and engaging in its conversation is the first step in this process. Then, hopefully, a play like this won’t be as necessary in years to come. 

When It Happens to You runs at the Park Theatre until 31 August. 

Photo Credit: Mark Douet 
 

To post a comment, you must register and login.