Shallow Slumber at Soho Theatre

Shallow Slumber at Soho Theatre

31 January, 2012
by: Naima Khan

Naima Khan reviews the unsettling riddle that is Chris Lee's Shallow Slumber

Given that Chris Lee's play Shallow Slumber was written about a time when social workers were in the media spotlight, it manages to bury its sensationalist elements exceptionally well. The cruelty in this play isn't held up like a headline but it lurks ominously and elusively so that we're never really sure of its extent.

The story begins with a mother, Dawn, as she arrives on the doorstep of former social worker Moira. Both are surprised at the scene they find themselves in and their story unfolds in non-chronological snippets of intense interaction from their past.

The immutable Dawn is eloquent and defensive and her defence is often surprisingly sound. She refuses to entertain Moira's notions about collective care and though she doesn't like being lumped alongside the rest of the 'vulnerables' with her privacy compromised and her judgements second guessed, she exerts her status as one of society's bad apples.

In this role, Amy Cudden becomes a master storyteller, wholly invested in the tales she spins so that we become invested in her performance; the way she side-steps Moira's questions and throws out nuggets of disturbing imagery alongside harsh truths. Lee has created a plausible but unreliable protagonist in Dawn, which ramps up the tension and suspense. You never know quite what she's done but more frighteningly, you never really know what she's capable of, how worried you should be or whose side should you be on.

Especially because Moira (Alexandra Gilbreath) is equally vulnerable. She is paid to sift through the lies and determine what she should act on and what she should ignore. She has to simultaneously care about and battle someone who is both resistant and desperate. Lee cleverly allows us an insight into Moira's undefined motivations as he reveals how difficult it is for her to divorce her duties from her personality and how easy it is to cross a line and give someone the benefit of the doubt when perhaps you shouldn't.

While the script and the acting are note perfect, the traverse staging does not serve this play well. Dawn's hefty monologues mean that there's not enough back and forth to keep us engaged with the whole stage and as the characters are quite still and intense, we often find ourselves looking at someone's back. That said, the performances in Shallow Slumber feel just as engaging when you can only hear them: Amy Cudden is really quite unmissable.


Shallow Slumber runs at Soho Theatre until 18th February



Image by Camilla Greenwell

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Naima Khan