A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing

Presented by The Corn Exchange in association with Cusack Projects Ltd
Written by Eimear McBride
Directed by Annie Ryan
Liverpool Everyman
5th April - 9th April 2016

Reviewed by Colin Serjent
Photograph by Mihaela Bodlovic

This 80 minute monologue, delivered by Aoife Duffin, was a gruelling experience to witness.

The main problem being I had zero empathy with the character she was portraying, based in Ireland, who was smitten and downtrodden by religion.

In essence it was a prolonged rant against her strict Catholic family and the Catholic church itself.

Its disorientating, stream of consciousness style quickly became tedious to the extreme.

There was no light or shade throughout the performance, no subtlety, just frequent outbursts of screaming and shouting of how cruel and bleak life can be.

Subject matters covered included sexual abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism and paedophiia. Nothing original was expressed about these dark life-affecting aspects of humanity.

Looking upon a stage at a solitary woman prattling on for over an hour was bad enough but even worse was the hit you over the head dialogue.

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