Robin/Red/Breast – Aviva Studios, Manchester

Writer: Daisy Johnson

Adaptor: John Griffith Bowen

Director: Sarah Frankcom

Composer: Gazelle Twin

Aviva Studios in Manchester has a large conventional theatre, The Hall, and it turns out, their North Warehouse, previously used for art displays, can be adapted into a mid-sized theatre for more intimate plays. Tonight, The Hall is set up as theatre in the round, well hexagon, with four rows of benches on each of the six sides to seat the audience. It recalls Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre where the director and star of tonight’s play worked in the past.

Lizzie Clachan’s set is a cottage bang in the centre of the stage. To facilitate viewing the walls are left unfinished making the structure skeletal and eerie, looking like a bandstand or a birdcage- the tweeting of birds is a regular feature in the show and the central character at times gives the impression of being trapped inside the cottage.

Robin/Red/Breast is marketed as immersive theatre. Upon entry the audience is handed headphones through which, in the opening fifteen minutes or so, they listen to a monologue setting out the central character’s inner thoughts along with suitably spooky sound effects while the actor performs wordlessly onstage. The need for this approach is debatable. One could argue the same effect could be achieved by having the speech as a soundtrack played over the theatre sound system or the actor simply speaking the monologue. The headphones do, however, lead to a coups de théâtre which really makes you sit up and pay attention so perhaps the device can be justified.

The BBC’s reputation for producing high-quality ghost stories lies mainly with its ‘A Ghost Story for Christmas’ series of films. John Griffith Bowen’s Robin Redbreast was not part of that series but its themes of paganism and sexual politics, specifically the right of a woman to choose what to do with her body, ensures the original TV play has an enduring impact.

Daisy Johnson’s adaptation, Robin/Red/Breast, expands the theme to cover all aspects of a right to choose- to have, as well as to refuse to have, a child. Aspiring writer Norah (Maxine Peake who co-created the play with director Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight) moves to a cottage in an isolated rural community. She intended to share the home with her partner, but the relationship fell apart when he demanded she consent to having children.

Norah finds it difficult to feel at home. She has paranoid concerns her neighbours (and possibly the countryside itself) are intruding into her garden and home in the same way her partner tried to impose upon her body. She finds it hard to adjust to the unusual practices of the community but becomes intrigued and finally attracted by Fisher (Tyler Cameron showing strong physical presence in his stage debut). Fisher has an odd affinity with nature and may be able to charm the mice out of Norah’s cottage, but their relationship pushes events to crisis point.

Director Sarah Frankcom uses an eleven-piece brass band to emphasise Norah’s lonely outsider status and the rural setting. The band escort Maxine Peake onto the stage and reappear using their instruments to add to the sense of Norah being trapped in her own home, surrounded by an outside environment which, if not actually hostile, is alien. The rural setting is confirmed as the skies open and the cast, caught in the open air, are drenched in a sudden downpour.

Maxine Peake is the only actor to speak during the play, but the most impressive part of her performance is the opening as, with her inner monologue playing over the headphones, she reacts facially and with gestures rather than verbally to show Norah’s growing paranoia. There is the sense of Norah moving from ‘sod ‘em all’ defiance towards horror as she becomes convinced there is ‘something’ outside her safe space trying to enter.

It is probable events in the play are taking place in Norah’s sleep-deprived mind as she struggles with isolation rather than a physical location. Although Norah’s neighbours are described they never make an appearance and Fisher, who does not speak but swings a mean axe, could be a fantasy figure. Norah’s speech to a support group has the fragile tone of someone in recovery from a traumatic event.

The right to choose is examined from all angles; in her cottage Norah displays anger that anyone could impose upon her and demand she have a child and at the expectation a woman should consent to such a role. Yet the brass band remove uniforms and dress in civvies to form a women’s support group debating the fear of being an inadequate parent or of not being able to cope with, or even love, a demanding child.

Robin/Red/Breast is a play which is more creepily disturbing than chilling, using the folk-horror format to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the themes of isolation and sexual politics. It also provides an imaginative practical demonstration of the flexibility of the Aviva Studios.

Runs until 26 May 2024