Theatre
Stitching
Manoel Studio Theatre

The devastation of psychological trauma is the theme which relentlessly underpins the development of Anthony Neilson’s Stitching, produced by Unifaun and currently running at the Manoel Studio Theatre.

Emotions run high in this two-hander directed by Chris Gatt, featuring Pia Zammit as Abby and Mikhail Basmadjian as Stewart, a couple whose lives are thrown off-kilter by the news that Abby is pregnant and their subsequent discussions about how this baby will change their lives; only for the audience to later realise that this dilemma is in fact only the beginning of their downward spiral. 

The child they go on to have destroys their already fraught relationship, not by its birth, but by its loss. Their attempts at dealing with their grief, both personal and, as a couple, draw them into a sequence of increasingly distasteful and dark sex games which rather than satisfying them and healing them, leaves them feeling more lost and distraught than they started off with.

Certainly, by the end of it, we see a crumbling relationship, with Abby seemingly having committed the FGM she fantasises about to preserve her son’s memory and somehow ensure his safety.

Zammit and Basmadjian have a strong dynamic and managed to portray two deeply troubled individuals as they struggled with their demons and clashing personalities. Their often depraved, overtly sexual and devious proclivities are a subconscious plea for help and their own twisted means of drowning out the sensation of loss which envelops their lives.

Stitching piques and provokes in unsettling but effective ways

The script is very much a back and forth of accusations and comebacks, propositions and retorts, attacks and defences and, in dealing with such, both actors gave strong performances, with sharp timing.

Gatt’s clever pacing and choice of pauses made for a tempo that was almost humourous in certain points and heavy where required – it certainly felt very real in terms of the intimate deconstruction of raw emotion.

It is true that the play contains two very controversial and, admittedly, deeply disrespectful lines, but their significance within the wider context of the play is minimal and the shock factor of the graphic and derogatory imagery they evoke is balanced by the underlying hysteria in their grief and loss.

What Neilson manages to convey in this strong character piece is that a lack of communication and diverging attitudes towards reconciliation rarely work. The play relies heavily on non-sequential chronological intercutting and is meant to deliberately throw the audience’s sense of time and development, until we start piecing the timeline towards the end and realise that we have been witness to a series of fragments from Abby and Stewart’s life together.

The realisation of the shattering of the lives – the fragmentation – is deliberately frustrating and is meant to convey their internal confusion.

Just as the reference to putting things back together again and Abby’s attempt at ‘stitching’ them in a final attempt to mend her mind and heart, come together, the audience realises that the only thing that is stitched indelibly to Abby and Stewart is the trauma of a relationship marred by loss and miscommunication.

Stitching is a well-presented, well-directed play which piques and provokes in unsettling but effective ways – one to learn from.

Stitching is being staged at the Manoel Studio Theatre today, on Friday and Sunday at 9pm. Tickets may be obtained from the Manoel Theatre box office on 2124 6389 or from www.teatrumanoel.com.mt.