The new play written, directed and designed by Rikki Beadle-Blair – Gutted – is currently running at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Gutted deals with the fractured lives and loves of the Prospect family – four hard lads and a hard-bitten mother living on a South London sink estate. Jumping backwards and forwards through time (pictures of the actors at various ages are projected onto the back of the mirrored set to help anchor the audience) the story which unfolds on stage graphically depicts the impact that an abusive father and indolent mother can have on their children and the people around them.
Louise Jameson (well known for her EastEnders and Tenko TV roles), playing bitter matriarch Bridie leads a very strong cast of nine – particularly notable are the performances by James Farrar as eldest son Matthew, a walking testimony to the fact that many of the abused become abusers themselves, and Gavin McClusky as the youngest – John – who moves effortlessly between portraying a wide-eyed twelve year old and an angry twenty-something without even so much as a costume change.
Rikki Beadle-Blair’s plays are known for their shock value, and Gutted is the most raw example of his work to date – if this was a street fight rather than a play the audience members would be fighting for their lives in the back of an ambulance by the end. There are several harrowing and intensely uncomfortable depictions of sexual abuse played out right there on the stage – indeed, one scene between Matthew and his girlfriend contains a line so outrageous that everyone seated in the auditorium let out a collective gasp of disbelief – a ‘Myra moment’ if you will.
Thankfully, Beadle-Blair provides a few brief respites from the pressure that constantly mounts throughout in the form of genuinely hilarious dialogue, delivered by those few characters who have survived relatively unscathed. Frankie Fitzgerald, playing third son and young father Mark, attempts to set a world record for using the ‘C’ word more times in a single scene than has ever been attempted before, and Ashley Campbell (who plays both prison inmate and transsexual partner Frankie) teeters about on stupendously high heels in the second act, directing incisive and well-observed put-downs at anyone who crosses her path.
Gutted is a challenging play to watch, as it deals with the most distressing of of subjects in a completely unapologetic way. Accusations have already been laid that the play is manipulative – I would disagree, as I think that what Beadle-Blair is aiming for here is an honest portrayal. After all, we all know – intellectually if not directly – that there are people out there right now living in deeply damaged families just like this one. Does it have any flaws? Well it is very, very slightly too long in my opinion – the monologue by mother Bridie in the final scene would really benefit from a few light strokes of the red pen…
Gutted runs at the Theatre Royal Stratford East until Saturday 25 May, with evening performances at 7:30pm and Saturday matinees at 2:30pm. Tickets are priced between £5.50 and £21 and can be found here online. Check out what other people are saying about by following the theatre’s Twitter account and keeping an eye on the hashtag #guttedplay.