Writer: Lin Coghlan
Director: Jim Pope
Lin Coghlan’s Flock is a powerful piece about challenges faced by young people in care. Jamie Ankrah plays Robbie, a 17-year-old with additional needs and disabilities naively convinced he’ll be given a place of his own when he turns 18. Affectionate and fun-loving, his big sister Cel (a lovely performance by Gabriella Leonardi) is also bright: trying to get A levels and go to university. But her loyalties are torn – she has effectively been Robbie’s carer since he was 11. It’s no wonder she has a prickly side – she has become so used to protecting him.
The early scenes make more of the fact that Robbie’s mental health is unstable. The order of the scenes is deliberately jumbled, mirroring his inner confusion – although this device disappears. Early on, we see him talking to his nan, only to realise his nan is dead, but is real to him. He has some confused idea that his sympathetic social worker, Mrs Bosely, has instructed him to kill her. Fortunately, this plotline peters out. The worst trouble Robbie gets into is frightening the new inhabitants of his childhood home by staring through the windows.
Versatile actor Deshaye Gayle plays another young man from the care system, the likeably mischievous Miko, as well as a number of other roles. Miko is full of schemes: early on, he and Robbie fish for treasure at the bottom of a canal with strings and magnets. Miko’s dad’s in hospital, but Miko at first denies the truth – that his dad won’t be coming out, and so Miko will probably lose his home. Miko is less well developed as a character than the other two juveniles, but it’s no surprise that his cheeky optimism gradually leaches away.
But it’s Ankrah’s performance as Robbie which will stay in our minds. He is completely convincing as a 17-year-old who is basically a big kid. He loves nothing more than being with Cel, remembering the games they made up as children. But Coghlan’s writing is unsentimental. However, Robbie becomes increasingly angry as he realises that the system is letting him down. Kind as Mrs Bosely is, she can’t guarantee she’ll somehow find him a way of living independently.
At the same time, we feel strongly for Cel and her dilemma. Even the suggestion of going out on a single date is enough to send Robbie into an anxious and aggressive spiral. She is vulnerable, too, believing a bloke in a band is really going to take her to Paris. The mood darkens when she goes to university and meets Axel. Robbie becomes desperately needy, finally hitting below the belt, and shouting ‘slag!’ at her. At this point, the audience audibly gasp.
Robbie then turns his bitter fury on Mrs Bosely (a finely judged performance by Jennifer Daley). We don’t blame her for losing her cool – we’ve already had a glimpse into her own problems. But when the worst happens, she finds a great depth of compassion.
It’s a rich piece, often painful to watch, but never less than absorbing.
Runs until 2 November 2024, then on tour
