We were all glad of the air conditioning in the Burton Taylor Studio, as we piled into this small, dark theatre on what had been the hottest day of the year so far. Emma Bentley, the actress behind this one-woman show, must have felt the same way. As we found our seats and settled in, she was already on-stage, huddled under a thick duvet on a makeshift bed and flicking through her phone, while a childhood video accompanied by a jerky rendition of Nights in White Satin played on the wall in the background. She was already in character as Molly, the heroine of this powerful show about homelessness.
As the show began, we got to know more about Molly. She's young, stuck in a hostel room that she seems frightened to leave, and obsessed with watching videos of her past and cataloguing the exact dates and times that her life changed direction and led her to this point. Bentley sets up a character who is quickly and easily relatable, chatting casually with the audience as well as delivering vivid descriptions of the events in her life that led to her losing her home and living first on the streets, and then in the halfway house where we first meet her. Molly's story is painful in how plausible it is - some bad luck, some bad decisions, and her life is derailed. The show delivers on its promise to demonstrate how homelessness is something that can happen to anyone.
Bentley's performance as Molly was strong and sparky, and her storytelling was on point - I loved the circular pattern of the story, the way it kept returning to the themes of isolation, loneliness, the motif of exact timings as a way for Molly to keep some kind of structure in her increasingly fragmented life. The clever use of props and of video and audio throughout the performance opened up the small space of the Burton Taylor stage, making it even easier to see the world from Molly's perspective.
What Goes On In Front Of Closed Doors is a short but punchy performance that drives home to the audience just how precarious life can be. Head along for the second show this evening, and be prepared to come away with your preconceptions challenged.