When It Happens To You – Park Theatre, London

When It Happens to You is a remarkable piece of writing on now at Park Theatre in its European debut.

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A Theatrical Memoir

When it happens to you.  When an event of immense significance occurs, and worms its way into every aspect of your life.  Your loved ones’ lives.  And we should call this particular event what it is.  A rape.  A sexual assault.  Given how many women I assume you know, it would be remarkable if it hadn’t happened to several of them.  A sobering thought.

When It Happens to You is a remarkable piece of writing by Tawni O’Dell.  Even more remarkable when you learn that it is a fictionalised version (a ‘theatrical memoir’) of what happened to her family when her own daughter was raped.  And that she played her theatrical avatar Tara in the initial off-Broadway run.  It’s now on its European debut at North London’s Park Theatre.  Jez Bond directs, with Amanda Abbington now in the lead role.  

The play is a brief 90 minutes.  Most of the cast-of-four’s dialogue is addressed to the audience.  As well as Abbington there is Rosie Day as her daughter Esme, and Miles Molan as her son Connor.  Tok Stephen plays sundry other roles: these are mostly in memories and flashbacks and performed with the other actors rather than directed to us. 

Seen from one angle, the directness of the approach suits the subject well. Tara, struggling with the gravity of what has happened to her daughter, her family and herself, is not always a reliable narrator, working through a traumatic event in front of our eyes. In her direct addresses to us we see the layers of the onion peel back as she goes into fixing mode, jokes with us, appeals to us, holds us at arm’s length or pulls us in, and finally taps into emotions she has struggled to reconcile.

Moving Performances Underpin an Important Story

But there is also a fragmentation in the play’s quick switching between scenes. It is at its best when we really get under the skin of the characters, when we spend time in a moment between them. Sometimes the rapidly moving scenes help to break the tension and keep the balance between darkness and hope. Sometimes I wonder if they impede further development of the other characters, Esme and Connor in particular. It’s not an easy path to tread, and Bond’s direction also walks this line. There are few distractions: the stage is bare and a soundscape ever-present but muted.  The focus is on the story as it unfolds in all its highs and lows. Like the play itself, the production somehow fosters intimacy but also dispels it.

A story like this relies on some remarkable performances.  Abbington is superb in her role.  Every worry, every doubt and fear is convincingly conveyed.  In her extended monologue towards the end of the lay she commands the audience masterfully.  Day as Esme is also excellent, particularly the physicality of her acting as she struggles with the one reminder of her rape she must carry with her: her body. Molan conveys his character’s helplessness, confusion and rage. Stephen inhabits each character with skill.  The cast display the ripple effect of this momentous event as they respond to Esme’s rape.  They also portray the closeness and frustrations of family convincingly: the familiar gestures, memories and shorthands of a life together.

I have briefly mentioned the set (Zahra Mansouri) and sound (Melanie Wilson) design.  Both are excellent.  Bond writes in the programme about the hope he wanted to convey in the midst of the weightier emotions.  Mansouri’s design, along with lighting by Sherry Coenen, underpins this nicely in its simplified city skyline and use of colour.  Wilson’s sound design, meanwhile, adds a needed injection of realism into the stylised production.

When It Happens to You isn’t an easy watch.  But it’s an important story, both as a remarkable personal act of catharsis and as a contribution to the discussion of violence against women.   Watching the impact of the stigma and shame surrounding sexual assault far outlive any physical injuries is a reminder of how far we still have to come as a society.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

When It Happens to You on until 31 August 2024.  More info and tickets here.