Theatre review: Anna Weiss, The Tron, Glasgow

IN A Britain shaken every week by allegations of sexual abuse involving once-loved public figures, there could hardly be a better moment for this blazing revival of Mike Cullen’s controversial 1997 play.

Anna Weiss

The Tron, Glasgow

****

Staged by Glasgow company ReKindle, which specialises in revivals of recent Scottish classics, the production drives straight to the heart of this savage drama, which begins by conjuring up a classic male nightmare of false memory and accusation driven by spite, and then performs a dazzling hand-brake turn to move us into the new cultural territory where we acknowledge the truth of sexual abuse, and the damage it inflicts.

The play begins with Cullen’s horrific caricature of a therapist, in the shape of Kirstin McLean’s compelling Anna Weiss, aggressive, foul-mouthed, controlling, man-hating, intrusive, emotionally blackmailing, and apparently involved in a dodgy live-in relationship with her young patient, Lynn. The extremity of the portrayal makes Anna’s early dialogue with young Lynn almost unbearable to watch; and her first meeting with Lynn’s apparently innocent dad, David – superbly played by Scott Cadenhead – even more painful in its manipulative ugliness. At the point where Lynn begins to list her accusations against her father, though, something shifts. Joanne Thomson’s beautifully-observed Lynn seems so sure of her ground that her story is hard to dismiss; and then, in a whirlwind conclusion, it becomes clear that even if David is innocent, there is nonetheless an infinity of real abuse to be remembered, expiated, punished.

Jeanette Foggo’s tightly-paced production never misses a beat; and although Anna Weiss is a hard play to watch, it remains a uniquely powerful piece of theatre, on a theme none of us can now afford to ignore.