Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit her) @ Brixton House Review

When you step out of a relationship, do you really begin to grasp the emotional, psychological, spiritual and physical impacts of what you’ve experienced within that period of time, survivors of domestic abuse encountering realisations that occur over time, trauma a devastating result of the toxic bond shared and often difficult to address. Exploring this within her award winning work Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit her), Martha Watson Allpress crafts an honest, open account of a woman rebuilding her life and self esteem post break-up and after a chance encounter with an ex abusive partner.

Courtesy of Korey J Ryan

An intimate, cathartic production, Patricia Gets Ready fosters a much needed dialogue between Patricia (Yasmin Dawes) and the audience, a safe space expertly created by Watson Allpress’ empowered text, Kaleya Baxe‘s organic direction and Dawes’ relatable, personable air. Ella Clarke‘s scattered yet characterful bedroom is an organised chaos I’m sure many can relate to. The bedroom setting a safe haven for Patricia to both process her own traumatic experience of domestic abuse, muster up the courage to navigate life moving forward as well as craft the perfect defiant speech to say to her abusive ex.

The show serves as a means to find the perfect words to articulate the past, particular verbs (fear, confused) placed throughout the show aiding both Patricia, as well as anyone else dealing with the trauma of domestic abuse with the processing of the emotional aspect experienced, Dawes vividly able to etch out Patricia’s ex boyfriend’s bad boy, charming, overly confident persona as she takes us back to their first meeting at a club. Patricia then noting the gradual descent into their tumultuous relationship, red flags becoming increasingly apparent, one that would witness physical abuse, as well as emotional and psychological – Patricia heartbreakingly lost and unsure of how to seek support. Patricia Gets Ready captures the complicated nature of a relationship where sadly this is apparent, the production an insightful, cathartic experience – theatre as therapy, a vital watch.

Review written by Lucy Basaba.

Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit her) is currently showing until Sunday 22nd May 2022 at Brixton House. To find out more about the production, visit here…

For our interview with performer Yasmin Dawes, visit here…