Review: WHEN WE DIED, Jermyn Street Theatre

Rachel loves her job as an embalmer. Usually, she wishes she could bring people back for the sake of their families - but not him. When her boss calls her in on her day off, the man who ruined her life a year before is lying on the slab.

He died suddenly, falling off a ladder while he was trying to retrieve his children's ball from the roof. As she prepares him for the arrival of his wife, whom she met once at her brother's birthday party, she confides in the audience, swearing she will tell Sinéad what he did to her.

After having her run at VAULT Festival rudely interrupted by the pandemic three years ago, Alexandra Donnachie is currently touring her self-penned one-woman show When We Died. It's the touching confessional of a woman who normalises death and finally finds the solace she needs to move on. Directed by Andy Routledge, the piece is permeated by a quiet heartbreak that unfolds on a white clinical set.

A soft rhythmic tune composed by Curtis Arnold-Harmer accompanies Rachel's description of the embalming process. It's a surprisingly physical procedure, and Donnachie mimics the steps on herself. The explanations of what it takes to close a dead person's mouth and eyes are choreographed with intense vigour by Christina Fulcher. She adds an expressive, eloquent movement direction that drives life in the monologue.

Subtle humour lightens up the story, but Donnachie's cheery delivery plunges into deep silence when her character gets lost in the pain of her memories. The recollection of the night this man (never named) raped her is broken off by the preserving process - or the opposite. She recognises the sense of danger he instilled in her, choking on the thought. It has a jarring, noticeable effect on her bearing.

Donnachie's performance is captivating in a sorrowful way. Her writing is equally vibrant with empathy - which she shows to herself as well as others. As Rachel learns how to heal, she unravels the complexities of coming to terms with one's trauma. Her desire to confront her rapist's wife, almost as if she was an accomplice of sorts, dwindles instantly becoming pure compassion. Ultimately, she realises that she needed to face her own self and own her own narrative to be able to take the first step towards recovery.

While the subject matter is certainly delicate, the writer and performer succeeds in exploring it with poetic candidness. She earns the audience's trust at once with a sophisticated familiarity and a grounded approach. It's a sensitive, introspective production that dissects trauma with emotional intelligence and self-awareness.

When We Died is on tour until 4 April.

Photo credit: Ali Wright

 

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