Hi everyone.
I went to see this play the other afternoon at The Other Palace theatre in Victoria, London.
This is a hard hitting, gut wrenching story about domestic abuse that does not hold back in any way.
Based on the true experiences of the writer, Phoenix Benham, who runs the Tatts ‘n’ Talent theatre group and who also played the lead role Sarah, is very true to life.
What I didn’t expect, was for the play to be totally audience immersive. From the first moment to the last, I felt as though I was a silent cast member. Being a small theatre anyway, with a low stage, added to the feeling that I was up there with them.
The acting was so good, there were times when I wanted to leave my seat, jump on the stage and tell the antagonist, David, to get a grip. David was played by Nathan Golo, who is a brilliant actor. He portrayed David with every ounce of his being and I commend him for his performance.
Phoenix herself is a genius writer/actress/producer. Her portrayal of Sarah was more than phenomenal and I can’t praise her enough.
Throughout the play, the actors talk ‘aside’ to the audience, to let us know what they are actually thinking, which brings the audience into the action even more. Knowing Sarah’s true pain, despair and self preserving thoughts, really made me want to get up from my seat to go and help her.
I found it very difficult to hold back the tears through some extremely difficult scenes, but there were comedic moments as well, which lightened it up. I always judge a good play by whether I have been given the opportunity to laugh and cry at the same time and this certainly gave that in spades.
The no holds barred play takes you on a journey that felt close to home for me, having gone through a coercive experience myself, it was as though Phoenix had reached into the depths of my soul and pulled out all those thoughts that haunt anyone who has been abused in any way.
The reasons why people don’t tell anyone what they are going through. The reasons why they ‘don’t just leave’. The reasons why they are not believed and that yes, sometimes there is no ‘happy ever after’, are brilliantly portrayed, which would make anyone who doesn’t understand domestic abuse sit up and take notice.
The supporting cast were all fantastic and played their characters brilliantly. Michelle, played by Caitlin Haste, Kelly, played by Poppy Fitzgerald. Mikey, played by Nathan Jonathan and Callum, played by Benjamin Sumrie, were the supposed friends who are there for you until you really need them more than ever, only to realise they were never real friends at all.
The police interview room scene was blindingly frustrating (I mean that in a good way). Again, I just wanted to jump up and go tell D.I. Peters, played by Ross Stephenson (who also played David in other shows), that he shouldn’t listen to anything David said, while D.I. Harding, played by Francesca M Izzo, tried to stand up for Sarah. I felt D.I. Harding was intimidated by D.I. Peters.
I got the impression this was a subtle way to show another form of ‘abuse’. D.I. Peters shutting down D.I. Harding and not respecting her opinion, not listening to her, or allowing her to put Sarah’s case forward further in order for David to be convicted.
The final line of the show, was so gut wrenching, it actually hurt my heart and as an audience member, I felt guilty for not jumping up on the stage to help her earlier in the show. This is a testament to the brilliant acting and the delivery of this final line is extremely powerful.
I give YOU WON’T HELP ME 100 out of 100. Everything about it was incredible. Every single one of the cast should be extremely proud of themselves.
I wish them much success for all future shows and I hope this goes on, so that word is spread about this difficult subject that needs so much more exposure, to help people read the signs and to help as many domestic abuse victims and survivors realise that they are not alone.
Rosalind Winton
Editor/poet and lyricist
