Anatomy of a Suicide

by Alice Birch

seen at the Royal Court Theatre on 29 June 2017

Katie Mitchell directs Hattie Morahan (Carol), Kate O'Flynn (Anna) and Adelle Leonce (Bonnie) with support from seven other actors in multiple roles in this intense study of three generations of women, two of whom commit suicide.

Carol's story starts in 1972 when she is met by her husband just after a failed suicide bid, while Anna's story begins in 1998 when, almost crippled by drug use, she is confronted by a young intern whose hospitality and kindness she has abused. Bonnie, in 2033, is binding up the wounds (self-inflicted?) of Jo, a fisherwoman who is obviously attracted to her.

These events are staged simultaneously in three discreet areas of a blank stage with seven doors (three at the back and two on each side) through which other characters arrive and interact with the three women. The conversations in each time are spoken in a bewildering series of overlays and echoes (frequently the same words are used though the contexts are different), making it impossible to disentangle them and at times hard to know for sure which vignette to concentrate on. Almost one has to make a snap decision to focus on one and allow the echoes to resonate from the other two, though there are subtle cues in the direction, and perhaps in the volume used, to guide the ear.

At each change of scene, the three women stand still while others re-order props and organise a change of costume. The year for each new scene is briefly displayed above each of the three doors at the back, so we can chart the development of each storyline. The most extensive is Carol's, but the other two also move forward a few years.

The result is extraordinarily intense, with powerful short flashes of insight into the crises each woman faces, sharpened by an awareness that past history is influencing and distorting the reactions of the two younger women, each of whom has lost a mother to suicide. Carol's desperate sense of entrapment in marriage and motherhood refracts into Anna's fragile grasp on normality after her experiences as a drug addict, and in turn Bonnie is emotionally withdrawn both in her personal relationships and even in her supposedly compassionate professional activities as a doctor. What might have seemed an over-egged family generational saga if presented end-to-end here becomes a fascinating and intricate set of theme and variations on family dynamics and personal struggle with very dark impulses towards self-destruction. The frightening clarity of mind of the incipient suicide is painfully manifest in short scenes which resonate across the generations, while the pressure is (often unknowingly) intensified by the well-meaning or uncaring people attempting to interact with them.

Are such tendencies an inherited and unavoidable trait? The play is weighted to suggest so by its relentless concatenation of scenes from three different times and by the dazzling technique of playing them out simultaneously. There are variations, and a slight note of optimism in Bonnie's case, but the vision is painful and bleak. The cast handle the technical demands of the presentation with great skill and conviction, which makes the experience of watching it both demanding and exhilarating, despite the sombreness of the subject.