This short (13 minute) piece, filmed whilst in isolation, is actually a monologue, and would work equally well on the stage.
Written and produced by Phil Peason, it tells the story of a middle-aged lady who looks back on her past whilst glancing through her window.
We are told facts. She is a mother. She did something very bad in her past. Life was beautiful and happy before this event. No-one knows what led her to this event. Life changed for her after this event. It is now 20 years after this event and she still cannot break free from it. ["it's the same film on repeat for the past two decades"]. For the rest, we are able and allowed to fill in the blanks ourselves. We are not told but I suspect that she murdered her baby, and is now and has been for the last twenty years institutionalised.
Emma Eckton plays this role with a deal of truth. She keeps you wondering just exactly how she is feeling, for just as in real life, we don't necessarily show our true feelings outwardly, and sometimes our body language or awkward remarks belies our true emotions, one gets a similar sense here. She is too cold, too matter-of-fact at times. Others she appears vulnerable and rueful. She blames herself, and yet has no idea how it ever came to be so bad. Although again, I suspect that deep down, she does know. It's almost as if these past 20 years have numbed her, and yet there is still a touch of madness / insanity (call it what you will) beneath the surface waiting for a chance to surface.
Eckton gives a stunningly real portrayal, helped by the static, unflinching nature of the close-up. The writing is solid and interesting, and is a piece which I would like to see developed and fingers crossed, if and when we can all go back to theatres again, to see it performed live.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 10/5/20
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