Schism

Drawing on her own experiences of life with cerebral palsy, Athena Stevens gives a hugely committed performance in this engaging two-hander about expectation and ambition.

As in her 2011 debut The Amazing Vancetti Sisters, Stevens has written herself a superb role in the irascible, irrepressible Katherine, a disabled student desperate for autonomy. Opposite her, a nuanced Tim Beckmann plays failed architect Harrison, who offers encouragement and emotional complications aplenty after she inadvertently interrupts his suicide attempt. When her talent begins to exceed his, though, this unstable combination of frustration, determination and overprotectiveness becomes destructive.

Stevens’ characters are ferociously well observed, defying lazy assumptions or easy categorisation. Throughout the play, Katherine’s refusal to accept any limitation – from enrolling in top tier colleges to dragging her wheelchair up flights of stairs – is contrasted sharply with Harrison’s self-defeating pessimism.

The plot is significantly less complex, however, telling the straightforward story of a relationship drifting from the platonic to the romantic to the bitterly, brutally dysfunctional. Director Alex Sims keeps the tone light for the most part, allowing Stevens’ sardonic humour to shine through, and making the play’s savage, melodramatic turns – of which there are several – all the more shattering in contrast.

The production leans heavily on Emma Laxton’s sound design to establish the passage of time, with snatches of talk radio and era-appropriate pop repeatedly emphasising the exact date. Despite some heavy-handed flourishes, the play offers a seldom seen perspective on lives which are too often overlooked and stereotyped.