Review: Attempts on her Life, Hen and Chickens Theatre

Martin Crimp’s Attempts on her Life is a complex beast. A seemingly unconnected series of seventeen scenes, all bound together simply by the mention of the mysterious Ann, or Annie, or Annouska, or any other variety of the name. Each scene paints a different picture of who, or maybe even what, she is, from a daughter travelling the world, to, a character in a book, or even a car. Then, just to complicate matters even more, Crimp’s text never assigns lines to a specific character, instead leaving that choice to the director. It’s a monumental effort to tackle such a piece of writing and so you really do have to admire Not Quite Ready’s ambition in doing so. And at times it really is a rewarding experience. There’s a joy in trying to work out how Ann will be mentioned in each scene, and how apparently completely disparate scenes all link together, other than by the mere mention of a name. 

The four strong cast (Bethany Monk-Lane, Cameron Wilson, Meghan Bartual-Smyth, Tom Terry) absolutely smash it with their performances. They manage the constant shifting of scenes, characters and styles without missing a beat. Accents, mannerisms and even physical appearances change as quickly as the scenes. It makes for absorbing viewing just to admire the sheer effort going into it. 

Similarly, there are some great directing choices from Sam Smithson that ensure transitions happen smoothly. Chairs are whisked away, costumes are handed over, actors appear and disappear and as one scene closes the next is already beginning.

But just as those directing choices are great, others create a major problem in the enjoyment. As the play progresses it starts to become just a bit too overbearing. The sensory overload threatens to consume all. A latter scene begins as a speech that is being translated into a foreign language, but slowly it builds and builds until all four characters are talking at the same time, rendering it (deliberately) incomprehensible, whilst the background music builds in volume above them all. It’s a relief when the scene ends. Elsewhere we are bombarded with video images on a screen taking up the whole rear of the stage, along with a tiny TV screen and music where volume is often deliberately increased as the scene progresses. It feels as if an ambition to include everything at once overtakes any desire for more clarity. What may have worked on the larger stage of Royal Court Theatre, where this play begun in 1997, becomes an assault in the rather smaller space that is the Hen and Chickens. For some this may be enthralling, for others, it’s just overload. 

At 90 minutes it eventually all becomes too much. By the closing scenes I had almost forgotten about Ann and attempting to piece it all together. Instead, I was more focused on just getting through it. Perhaps shaving a good 30 minutes off would alleviate such concerns and allow for more focus in cutting away some unnecessary excesses.

But it has enough moments of wonder, and four superb performances to almost hold it all together. You have to admire the ambition and applaud the risk taking, and if you can handle the onslaught to your senses then this will absolutely challenge you to draw your own conclusions as to just what it was Crimp was attempting to say with his work and quite who this mysterious Ann really is.

Written by: Martin Crimp
Directed by: Sam Smithson
Produced by: Not Quite Ready
Lighting and video design by: Beril Yavuz
Sound design and composed by: Wil Pritchard

Attempts of her Life plays at Hen and Chickens Theatre until Saturday 14 June.