Mindgame -Treatment of profound mental illness comes under the spotlight

The cast of Mindgame. Photo by Martin Pulley.

Mindgame by Anthony Horowitz at Rugby Theatre from 22-29 November. Directed by Ash Hirons.

Review by Charles Essex

Taking someone’s life – murder – is the ultimate crime.  Is the perpetrator an apparently good person, or at least a normal person, whatever normal is, who does an evil thing, or someone who has no control of their actions and hence is not responsible and suffering from a severe mental illness?  The inmates of Fairfield Hospital have committed multiple murders and are ‘lifers’.  Is there any hope of a cure, or at least rehabilitation?

Mindgame by Anthony Horowitz explores the nature of mental illness.  Mark Styler (Malcolm Stewart) showed up in the office of the consultant psychiatrist Dr Farquhar (Gareth Davies).  Surprisingly for a playwright of Horowitz’s skill, the first few minutes were an exposition by Mark, ostensibly speaking into a Dictaphone, setting the scene in a rather obvious way, as he made notes in preparation for his next book.  When Dr Farquhar entered, there started an increasingly fractious cut-and-thrust between him and Mark as the latter sought to interview Easterman, one of the inmate.  Would Dr Farquhar, who conveyed progressively more impatience, allow the interview, as Mark tried different tactics to try to secure the interview?

Gareth Davies and Malcolm Stewart. Photo by Martin Pulley.

Malcolm and Gareth portrayed the two characters well as they thrust and parried in a gradually more fraught discussion.  Dr Farquhar increasingly dominated and convinced Mark to don a straight jacket to get a real experience of what was involved in treatment in such an institution.  Malcolm communicated well Mark’s fear and growing hysteria at the situation and his loss of control, as Dr Farquhar seemed to become more aggressive.  Nurse Paisley (Anne Marie Greaves) had entered the office but the characterisation of who Nurse Paisley was and her role were unclear until the end.

Director Anthony Hirons included some clever touches such as the cigarette lighter in the doctor’s desk fastened by a chain, and the intermittent crackling Muzac which had a will of its own when it started and stopped.

When reviewing a play like this it is essential not to give any spoilers, but with only three actors in the play and being set in a hospital for the criminally insane, it was clear that things were not going to end well for one or more of the characters.  Horowitz gave an unanticipated twist that defied the obvious and expected ending.  The cry ‘It’s affecting my mental health’, a phrase fortunately never used in this play, has become such a cliché that it diminishes the suffering of those who suffer from profound illness.  He challenges us to consider treatments whose effects may be more harmful than the affliction they are supposed to be treating.

For tickets please go to: https://www.rugbytheatre.co.uk/