Raising awareness for domestic abuse, local director Paul Blinkhorn has collaborated with writer Jayne Marshall to use her short monologue, originally written for a BBC Radio competition in conjunction with The Royal Exchange Theatre, and split the speech up between 45 professional and non-professional local actresses.
By doing this there is something of the overgilding of the lily. The cutting between voice / house (as these were all filmed during covid isolation), slows the narrative and thought process down, losing impetus and dramatic drive. This is further entrenched by some of the actresses over-acting and over-emphasing, even if they were only allocated a couple of words. The piece works much better when said more simply and naturalistically; especially when being filmed.
However, where this film does score is that it is visual. Marshall's original script was for radio, and here we can see faces and emotions which always helps; moreover, the power that can be delivered by 45 women all saying the same thing can not be underestimated. The final image too, one of all the women showing a tattoed heart on their palms and then virtually joining hands was extremely moving and brought the message home - if it hadn't already done so by then!
The statistics for domestic abuse in England and Wales is horrifying. And to give you some idea...
*Almost one in three women aged 16-59 will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime - Office for National Statistics (2019) Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2019
Paul Blinkhorn has created a short 6 minute film using these 45 women of Greater Manchester to promote debate and bring about change in a poignant, relevant, and contemporary way. The film is available to watch for free on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRIPe-HyC7s
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 17/12/20
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