ED2015 5/5 Reviews ED2015 Theatre Reviews

Iphigenia In Splott (Sherman Cymru)

By Rebecca Jacobson | Published on Saturday 29 August 2015

Gary Owen’s blisteringly smart, savagely poetic new play centres on Effie (Sophie Melville), a no-bullshit, sharp-tongued young woman with a habit of heavy drinking and three-day hangovers. That booze-induced brain haze is what gets Effie through a bleak existence in modern-day Cardiff – until she falls for Lee, a soldier with a wounded leg. Melville brings the script’s slant rhymes and throbbing beats to vivid life: her melodic, motormouth delivery will leave you breathless. In a pitch-perfect move, the stage is left mostly bare, save a few red chairs and some fluorescent strip lights, askew like collapsed venetian blinds. The final-act political awakening is a bit hard to buy, but that’s a minor niggle in a tremendous production.

Pleasance Dome, until 30 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Rebecca Jacobson]