North West

Silent Approach – New Adelphi Theatre

Silent Approach is a sobering play depicting a timeline of emotional battles, with mental health, guilt and feelings of overwhelming shame to a place of “triumphant recovery”.

Marcella Hazell is Rebecca House, a Lancashire serving policewoman who tells her story through an unfiltered lens. A raw hard-hitting portrayal of life as a respected functioning police officer protecting the public to a time in slow motion when she couldn’t even protect herself from her dark thoughts and suicidal ideations.

The scenes are a hybrid between video footage to on stage performance which is becoming popular in small stage productions and is highly effective. At times it felt a little uncoordinated as the scene changes came quickly but this didn’t distract too much from the essence of the meaning. Two standout moments; the red light of repetition, the nurse giving Rebecca her medications time and time again in perpetual rotation was powerful, ‘paranoia’ right there. To when she donned her police jacket and spoke directly to the audience of her ‘first time’ a young boy only 16yrs old. An emotional ‘punch’ a respectful realisation that this is real life.

Music was of mixed genres to fit the mood with coordinated lightening that didn’t overpower the actors. With a small female cast also featuring Joyce Branagh and Elka Lee- Green who convincingly switch characters to represent the relevant people who not only touched Rebecca’s life but also terrified her. The actor’s performance provided a sense of feeling to more people being on stage, providing depth and authenticity to the story, a testament to the actors convincing ability to switch seamlessly from character to Helen Parry’s directorship.

It delivers on every level, a truly lived experience highlighting the unrelenting physical and psychological struggles of mental health and the associated ignorance. To the over medicating ‘asylums’ claiming to be a safe space. This play comes with a trigger warning, it has scenes of distress, violence and references to suicide. It is not without thought provoking suggestion of our understanding of mental health and how we can help by just understanding it. Silent Approach is a play that leaves nothing uncovered.

Based on the Book Police to Paranoia by Rebecca J House

Written by Caroline Lamb

Directed by Helen Parry