Finborough Theatre
Diagnosis
★★★

ATHENA STEVEN’s script and dynamic central performance purportedly questions whether the rules and regulations to ensure the rights of “vulnerable individuals” (Public Oversight Code 22) are more to protect the authorities than empower the vulnerable.

When a physically impaired woman in a wheelchair is arrested late at night and taken to a police station having assaulted a man at a nitrous bar, and all the protective strategies are finally in place, the officer (Che Walker) interviewing her is understandably dismissive about her excuses. Faced with a subject who not only has problems communicating but is also coming down from a high that might have involved hallucinations, he is brusquely sceptical about her narrative involving an ability to foresee the “sell-by dates” of certain individuals.

Only when she fervidly insists on her legal rights to be heard does he give her the time to tell her story properly, and to issue portents about an impending natural disaster. Her warnings as a London Underground drone operator checking for safety issues have been officially ignored and the officer, along with the audience, are gradually drawn in to her account of the necessity for the earlier fracas that lead to her arrest.

Steven gives a charismatic performance as a modern day Cassandra, hindered by physical impediments, as we are asked to question the validity of Code 22. And yet one knows the subject would no more be taken seriously if she had walked in off the streets in perfect health and coherently articulated her fears.

Che Walker, who also directs, successfully builds the tension while the live filming, utilising various effects such as multiple images of the woman, adds to the sense of apprehension. Sadly, unlike the layered echoing of some elements of speech, which at times distorts the meaning.

Cut from 75 minutes to 65 and now down to 50, the show has obviously changed its form during rehearsals. It is a gripping psychological thriller that would make an excellent TV show, but as something that has anything more profound to say about ensuring the vulnerable are heard, it is on dodgy ground.

Runs till June 7. Box office: finboroughtheatre.co.uk