Writer: Noah McCreadie
Directors: Noah McCreadie & Hannah McLeod
Noah McCreadie’s psychological thriller Getaway / Runaway transfers from the King’s Head Theatre to the Lion and the Unicorn Theatre claiming to be a dark comedy. The emphasis is certainly on the dark in this examination of complex erotic, sexually violent and coercive behaviours during a family reunion. And while McCreadie’s play is certainly atmospheric in its creation of place and a set of adults behaving strangely, it needs more than a 60-minute running time to fully explore these people and their fluctuating dynamic.
Siblings Eliot and Saoirse travel to the home that their father Mark shares with his new girlfriend where they hope to spend the weekend renewing their relationship with him. Mark is newly out of prison and, as an alcoholic, is now in a complex sexual relationship with his sponsor Alice. Meanwhile, Eliot is trying to escape a serious accusation made by his former partner and hopes to find solace with his family but their game-playing soon derails their reunion.
Described as a ‘romp of outrage’, McCreadie’s play actually isn’t really a comedy at all and is a far more serious exploration of sexual trauma and control. Despite the family dynamic, Getaway / Runaway really focuses on Alice, an unknown quantity who seems to revel in the power she holds over Mark and later Eliot. But McCreadie makes her incredibly ambiguous; is she using her beauty and attraction to entice them both or is the play commenting on how quickly the men cross the line?
The complexities of erotic provocation are something the play could spend longer exploring, helping to give greater insight into intriguing yet still unfinished characters. When Saoirse tells a horrifying story about working in a hotel, Alice is titillated by the experience yet how she fits into McCreadie’s tale remains a little too vague, even at the dramatic conclusion. How did she meet Mark, why does she accept his behaviour and what are her own desires, expectations and boundaries? A longer piece could drill deeper into the various dilemmas and contradictions that Alice presents.
Likewise, the family history and all their associated issues have potential but are thinly drawn at present. Eliot’s predatory behaviour and eventual revelation are too sudden, McCreadie could tease this out over a longer period, using conversations with his sister and with Alice to explore Eliot’s culpability. Mark too has unexplained patterns of behaviour triggered by this decisive weekend that result in semi-violent sex with Alice that could be better explained, while Saoirse is badged as the least damaged of the group but is also concealing a great deal about her life that Getaway / Runaway never fully addresses.
In staging the play, co-directors McCreadie and Hannah McLeod have borrowed some tricks from Yael Faber such as the ominous rumbling soundscape designed by Johnny Edwards combined with an occasional thudding beat at moments of tension that give the show a primal feeling. Performed by Kiera Murray, Nye Occomore, Coline Atterbury and Chris Moore, the show is filled with strange and portentous drama that sustains its brief running time.
There is much more that McCreadie could say about these characters and far more detail to mine in who they are, why they are here and ultimately why people behave the way they do. Forget the comedy, Getaway / Runaway is far stronger as a psycho-sexual thriller but one that has the potential to place the female experience of power and control at its centre.
Runs until 29 July 2023
