The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland is a difficult play, not just due to its subject matter but also the staging it requires. The audience is thrown into the midst of a complex family situation; details emerge slowly, the background story being constructed over the course of the play. Unfortunately, the play was cut drastically short due to a power cut. I was nevertheless impressed by the first 50 minutes, although it left many plot and character details unresolved.

The stage was split in half diagonally, severing a doctor’s office from a family’s sitting room. It has to be one of the cleverest uses of the Corpus Playroom stage that I’ve seen: a window and a doorway in the participation made it possible to see both sides, but not necessarily understand the details fully. Intertwined, overlapping dialogue was effective; at the very start it was remarkably evocative, coming from every corner of the room. However, several times the cues were missed, the lines fumbled and the energy lost.

All of the actors gave strong performances, in particular Dolores Carbonari in the role of the mother. She managed to appear old beyond her years, wonderful family dynamics emerging between her and her two children. I found the gender-blind casting of Rupert thoroughly confusing, although Jasmin Rees was well suited to the part. The characters mostly seemed one-dimensional, Gus Mitchell especially, who was incredibly and discordantly intense as Richard. The direction was subtle, drawing a lot of power from the dialogue, but more precision would have paid dividends; the dark comedy was often underplayed, although this created a delicate balance with the intense drama.

The overall design left quite a lot to be desired: aside from the great partition, restructured at the end of the first act, the stage was rather bare with no creative details. The costumes were unremarkable, the lighting and sound design both boring.

I was disappointed not to see the end of the play. Although it started off quite slowly, it had just hit its rhythm when the lights went out. Imperfect performances had potential and I really wanted to know how it all worked out.

On Tuesday 10th May, the opening night performance of The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland was interrupted following a power cut. All comments in this review are therefore based solely on the first 50 minutes of the performance.