Review: And She Cried Mercy

We were promised a ‘dark comedy of institutions, booze and boob jobs’, but this sound bite could not have prepared audiences for the play which touched on issues as diverse as lottery winning to suicide to the North/South divide to the troubles of female friendships to drug addiction (and, yes, booze and boob jobs). And She Cried Mercy is the second play by Rory Mackenzie to go up in St Andrews and, whilst that list of themes might make it seem like Mackenzie has simply started out to shock an audience, the writing is fast-paced and witty enough to allow all this to be included without being overwhelming or didactic. Following a dual narrative of Jenny starting out on her first day at a posh school and Anthony’s first day in prison, the play was clever and ambitious throughout, certainly paying off.

The writing is sharp and highly enjoyable, with a penchant for both silly puns and more serious, cutting comedy: Jenny’s father has won the Euros Lottery despite his dislike of Europe and Europe-wide xenophobia; Colin couldn’t possibly use Anthony’s chair in order to hang himself because it doesn’t belong to him. Mackenzie’s skill lies in his ability to make audiences laugh at dark, dark themes not because of cheap, puerile or exploitative jokes but because of the clever and self-aware subversion of such themes. The play had a slow start, and some of the early jokes particularly on the North/South divide felt misplaced, but following the first twenty minutes it found its feet and quickly rattled through to its shocking conclusion.

The use of a frame with Anthony, a failed poet, writing his biography from prison, meant the audience was confronted with questions of what it means to tell a story, and how narratives and truth itself is constructed from the start of the play. The inclusion of the story of two school girls at posh boarding school Pendletons reflected Anthony’s experience of a first day of prison in a lighter fashion until this story suddenly stopped being light and took a turn for the dark allowing it to join with the prison narrative. From the construction of the play itself to Belinda and Jenny creating stories with which to impress one another to the necessary manufacture of a Anthony’s backstory with the help of Colin in order to impress other inmates, the play had a knowing, self-referential attitude to the importance of stories. Mackenzie perfectly summed up this in an argument between Colin and Anthony on how much truth needs to be included in any story, ‘too good to be true…too true to be good’.

The acting certainly lived up to the promise in the programme of an ‘all-star cast’ with the entire cast turning in confident and believable performances throughout. Baxter Gaston as Colin, an inmate in the prison, had a stunning energy throughout, showing both his comedic skills and ability to be serious and scary. Frazer Hadfield was utterly convincing as Anthony the new, mysterious inmate who had a real fear of what would happen in prison. The contrast between Coco Claxton (Belinda) and Emma Taylor (Jenny) couldn’t have been made any clearer by the acting: where Claxton was uptight and condescending, Taylor was brilliantly open (quickly telling Jenny all about her ‘chuff’), which provided much of the comedy of the piece.

The tech team too should be praised: simple use of lighting allowed a school and prison to exist alongside one another on the tiny Barron stage. Utilising shelving and mattresses to create a bunk bed – that description doesn’t do it justice – was a brilliant way of suggesting a prison cell in the black box space of the Barron.

And She Cried Mercy is a confident and self-assured piece which tackles both serious and lighter themes alongside one another to great success. I look forward very much to Mackenzie’s next play in St Andrews.