Sherman Theatre: Iphigenia in Splott

Iphigenia in Splott - Sherman Theatre/Digital Theatre+

Packed with emotion, this telling of Iphigenia, reworked and titled Iphigenia in Splott by Gary Owen, is a captivating monologue performed by Sophie Melville. The heart-breaking performance set in Cardiff tells the tale of Effie, a young woman in a constant hangover. Effie seems to be a repulsive kind of stranger, the kind to avoid on the street; she's loud and bad mouthed, lively and unafraid, frightening.

This production follows Effie's struggles as she falls in love with Lee, a war veteran, a one-night stand. As she aches to see him again, she learns the truth about him. What follows is even more heartbreak. Melville portrays Effie's immeasurable pain in an excruciatingly concise way, bringing depth to this boisterous and once repulsive character.

Melville works effectively with the simplistic set and lighting – she spends the whole monologue alone on stage, transforming a few plastic chairs into the street, a club, a waiting room and so much more. She succeeds in using a range of skills to vary Effie's fleeting emotions and she successfully convinces us of Effie's imitations of other characters that she interacts with. Although we don't meet them, their roles in this story are unforgotten, brought to life by Effie's animated storytelling. She shows us her relationships with people, varying from her sweet and loving grandmother to an invigorating midwife.

The play opens with Effie ‘being Effie’, and we are quick to judge her – way too quick. As the story progresses, we begin to see the layers that make Effie – that she is more than a noisy woman in cheetah-print leggings. We are tricked into believing there is hope and we are left with an older and wiser Effie, an Effie who doesn't fail to show us her strength, regardless of her pain and anger. The emotions are raw and impressionable, leaving the audience absorbed in Effie's story, despite beginning the play disinterested at the thought of watching an eighty-minute-long monologue performed by a drunk and rowdy character. We are able to acknowledge her character development.

It is a moving and thought-provoking play, making you wonder: What would you do? What even is ‘fair’? Where is the justice? The audience are forced to ask themselves: Who will take the blow each time? It is sure to make the watcher question their own morality – how easily do you make assumptions about people you don't even know?

Iphigenia in Splott can be streamed with a membership to www.digitaltheatreplus.com or downloaded on-demand from www.digitaltheatre.com