| Brutally candid |
REVELATION |
| Revelation , Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff , July 17, 2008 |
For all the expletive ridden psychological warfare throughout Patrick Jones latest play – a brutally candid self-autobiographical account of a man suffering from domestic abuse – the truism “men don’t talk” shows how taboo the subject remains.Jones has never shied from challenging subject matter and Revelation finds him in a rich vein of form. But despite the religious subtext in the title and writhing screenplay, there's little redemption to be found. Thirty something Welshman Steve, played by the excellent Nathan Sussex, is piecing his life back together after being made homeless.When he meets Stacy Daly’s sympathetic Dionne his life finds new meaning. But an unplanned pregnancy soon escalates to physical and psychological abuse fuelled by postnatal depression. Dionne’s resentment of everything Steve does is total. Her belittling of his every interest and studying come in implacable torrents of abuse. She taunts him, tells him he’s worthless and hits him for being him. This is domestic drama without the kitchen sink, a life that’s become existing. “Jihad in the bedroom” is how Steve describes his life. His unflinching monologues describe the wall of silence from friends and the police when the desperation of his situation becomes too much and he speaks out. “When someone hits you, you start to believe in some glamorous afterlife”, he explains in the play’s only nod to resolution.Aided by James Dean Bradfield’s brooding melancholic soundtrack, Faction Collective’s Revelation is a work that cuts straight through the bone |
Reviewed by: Alex Donahue |
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