Lately I have not been as diligent as I
could in following the work of writer debbie tucker green. She was one
of those folk that I thought I had the measure of, and did not feel a
need to reinvestigate without hearing of significant development. Even
the acclaim given to her
generations
(which I did not see) and
random
(which I did, and greatly admired) did not sway me. I see now that
while I have been lazily ignoring her, green has grown from a writer
whose earnestness with regard to great issues often overwhelmed the
humanity of her vision into one who allows the weighty matters to
emerge organically from her characters.
nut may, at a guess, be
related to the film
second coming
which green has written and directed, and which is currently in
post-production: both star Nadine Marshall (who also performed the solo
piece
random), both seem to
be related to women’s mental health in and around family environments.
In
nut, our perspective on
Marshall’s character Elayne shifts from a first act of animated chat
(in the contemporary urban sense) with friend-figures Aimee and Devon
to a third act of anxious subjugation with her younger sister on a
weekly visit. Elayne is, we infer, on medication for some psychological
condition, and given to self-harm.
No single character’s perspective is trustworthy: we have already seen,
in the intervening second act, Elayne’s sister’s argumentative but
addictive relationship with her own ex-husband, and as for those
friends and the son-figure who have both bolstered and subtly
undermined Elayne earlier, they may be no more than figments. We are
left to choose the elements and shading of our own picture of the
situation; the only thing we know for certain is that no dazzling cure
or solution of any kind is in the offing, rather we must carry Elayne’s
problems home with us and mull them ourselves. green’s direction is
masterly: nothing is pushed, and the overlapping dialogue of Marshall,
Sophie Stanton, Anthony Welsh and Sharlene Whyte may well be the most
natural I have heard on a stage. green’s work is never an easy or a
diverting watch, but it is – I now recognise – deeply concerned, caring
and powerful. She is too good to shy away from.
Written for the Financial
Times.