Theatre review: Some Demon

Apart from when things went a bit chaotic circa Covid, I think I've pretty much kept up with every Papatango winner for the last decade - the playwrighting contest has come up with some very impressive work, even if I've always suspected that it doesn't hurt your chances if the subject's a depressing one. In other news, this year Laura Waldren's Some Demon is set in an eating disorder inpatient clinic, and takes its title from a Nietzche quote. Zoe (Sirine Saba) has been in and out of institutions like this one for the last decade; her current stay seems to be a particularly long one, as she alternates between making progress and even becoming a helpful and maternal figure to the other residents, and sabotaging both her own treatment and other people's. Right now she's getting impatient with Mara (Leah Brotherhead,) whose tantrums and screaming fits are disrupting group sessions during the day, and keeping everyone awake at night.

But what makes her angriest is that she believes key nurses Mike (Joshua James) and Leanne (Amy Beth Hayes) are spending all their time on Mara and neglecting the other patients, especially 18-year-old newcomer Sam (Hannah Saxby.)

Her maternal instincts have particularly kicked in with Sam, whom she treats as a substitute for the niece who became collateral damage to her illness, and who she's not seen since as a result. But when her attempts to help backfire, she starts to turn her sabotaging tendencies back on herself. Some Demon tries to give a broad picture of eating disorders - while we hear a lot about the starving, bingeing and purging that most people associate with the conditions, we also have Nazia (Witney White,) whose illness manifests in extreme exercise.

Although there's the odd lighter line this is, indeed, a pretty bleak play that constantly reminds us that while there's hope for anyone with one of these conditions and people can get better even after extremes, the overall chances of this happening aren't great. A great cast really help give it a narrative thrust though; Saba is a long-time favourite and she really makes the endlessly contradictory Zoe watchable, getting away with scenes that could have come across as overwrought. It's an ongoing theme of the therapy sessions that the illness is a separate entity from the patient, an idea that gets a bit iof a twist as we start to see the way Zoe views it, and the reasons for her self-sabotage.

James also has an interesting story arc as the nurse who likes to play good cop, even if it sometimes puts additional pressure on him and Leanne. Although explicitly set in an NHS facility Waldren avoids making specific reference to cuts and lack of support that will inevitably affect the quality of treatment - the focus is on the patients' experience, and the villain of the piece is very much the disorder itself. For the most part George Turvey's production manages to justify the lengthy running time, although by the end the wheels start coming off the shifting focus on characters: After settling on Zoe's story, a final scene exclusively focusing on Sam feels like an overlong postscript. A powerful play at times though.

Some Demon by Laura Waldren is booking until the 6th of July at Arcola Studio 1.

Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz.