The Lowry, Salford – until 22nd September 2018.
Reviewed by Sarah Cockerill
3***
Penelope Skinner’s (Linda, The Village Bike) Meek, recently on show at the Edinburgh Fringe, presents a bleak, dystopian existence in which its citizens, a woman called Irene (Shvorne Marks) in this case, struggle under the rule of a totalitarian state, enforcing Westboro-Baptist-Church-style dogma with an iron fist. Incarcerated for the “crime” of singing about a lost love, Irene struggles to understand why she should face death for such a petty crime and questions who might have reported her.
With its Orwellian influence, Meek draws inspiration from injustices, intolerant states and religious groups around the globe. Irene’s predicament is nailed home by the set; an angular, tortuous, concrete cell crowned by a glowing crucifix. Irene, whose faith is questionable, is faced with becoming the ultimate martyr upon gathering viral support for her plight which she feeds on for the strength to survive. Her freedom may turn her into an outcast; whereas a guilty verdict may inspire the world into action against a fundamentalist Christian state.
Shvorne Marks as Irene produces a strong performance and her friend Anna (Scarlett Brookes), with her lack of stability and pious bordering on sycophantic nature, is believably played. The final character, Gudrun (Amanda Wright), is a level-headed, secular lawyer. The final scenes are affecting and, near the close, the main character’s plight provoked feelings of despair with a cacophony of sound and eerie lighting helping to deliver a disconcerting climax. However, it sometimes felt a little too difficult to relate to or empathise with Irene, even if the rest of the world did.
Meek is a harrowing tale of a subjugated woman who is determined not to be broken and it is running at the Lowry theatre in Manchester from Wednesday 19th until Saturday 22nd September. In a break from the dictatorial, dogmatic style of Irene’s captors, I would encourage you to check it out. Exercise your own free will. Make up your own mind.