Review: Shelter, Barons Court Theatre

What is the first thing you think of when you consider a ‘monster?’ Is it something physical, such as a creature that would be in a horror film? Or is a monster more complex than that, for instance a thought, an idea, or a concept? Medieval scholar Asa Mittman takes the notion of the monster and asks: is something still a monster if one believes in its existence and has a category to define it? This question could quite possibly be answered in Julia Finn’s production of Shelter, a play set in a world where humanity has been confined to survival bunkers as a monster roams on the outside.

Trapped in one of these bunkers are Jess (Mal Owen) and Ross (Annie Haworth), a lesbian couple who are, ideally, safe from both the monster outside and the monstrous homophobic and transphobic notions of other people. Although Jess and Ross are seemingly safe from the horrors they might face outside of the bunker, they are entirely at the mercy of perhaps the greatest horror facing them: each other.

From the very beginning of Shelter there is an immediate feeling of claustrophobia, the set appears small, with a single bed, amongst various other items, including a microwave and bookshelves, with dozens of paper cranes hanging from the ceiling. The sounds of the monster outside echo throughout the tiny space as the lighting flickers and changes colours, emphasising the feeling of being trapped. From the very beginning, it is evident that Jess and Ross have been in this bunker for a long time, to the point where they are hardly aware of what time of day it is. They are bored, tired and scared. 

This combination, along with the underlying homophobic and transphobic trauma both have faced prior to being in the bunker, is manifested by both becoming fearful and untrustworthy of each other. This results in an abusive and bigoted relationship, with mental illness undertones. This complex combination is played out phenomenally by Owen and Haworth, who have the audience mesmerised by their characters. They are utterly haunted by their past and riddled with anxiety about their future. Moreover, such strong emotions cannot be suppressed any longer within the characters and their tiny living space, resulting in them constantly losing their tempers and shouting at each other. This leaves one feeling as if a dystopian version of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger is being presented. 

The point of the show is to present different variations of a monster, both literally and metaphorically. The monster outside which everyone is hiding from, reminiscent of something out of an H.G. Wells novel, is the one which everyone believes to be in existence, based on the noises that are heard from the outside.  But the monster inside the bunker is one which Jess and Ross need to define and confront within themselves, because that monster is much more destructive then the one they fear externally. 

Written and Directed by: Julia Finn
Assistant Directed & Set Design by: Cléménce Bénard
Lighting design & Stage Management by: Maddy Whitby
Sound Design by: Dan Sinclair

Shelter plays at Barons Court Theatre until Saturday 24 May.