Theatre review: Ragdoll

Following the surprise success of her debut Farm Hall, Katherine Moar returns to Jermyn Street Theatre for her follow-up. This time she doesn't have real-life recordings to use verbatim, but if her story is technically fiction it's no secret that it also has a real-life inspiration: If the blurb didn't already mention it, Ragdoll is full of overt clues that the character of Holly is based on Patty Hearst. In 1978 the Heiress (Katie Matsell) is on trial for her role in a string of robberies, and her lawyer (Ben Lamb) is convinced he can make the extenuating circumstances catch the jury's sympathy: Kidnapped by a cult-like criminal gang, she was sexually assaulted and brainwashed until given the option of joining in the crime spree in return for being released. But his confidence is misplaced, and the best result he can get her is that she only serves two years of a prison term.

They don't speak for decades but in 2017 Robert (Nathaniel Parker) is facing accusations of his own. With most of his success stories being murderers he got off, his most notorious failure might be the character witness who can best rehabilitate his reputation.

In a 21st-century climate much more willing to sympathise with a woman who was assaulted and coerced, he invites Holly (Abigail Cruttenden) to the California home he's having to move out of, and as they talk about the case and the verdict he's not been willing to discuss in all these years, we jump between them and their earlier selves.

Neither is a hugely sympathetic character, although the more mature version of Holly comes closest, having developed a kind of pragmatic wisdom despite having essentially returned to the same life of privilege after prison. The younger Holly's arrogant assumption that everything will work out for her probably doesn't help combat the unforgiving attitudes towards women at the time. Robert meanwhile is openly using the high-profile case to build his own fame and brand, and his recent downfall hasn't made his older self any less arrogant, or any more self-aware of the way he now needs Holly to rescue him, taking her help for granted.

Moar's play is an interesting take on the way attitudes have changed, although like any work on that subject it inevitably has an unspoken question over how much they actually have, and whether a woman in her situation would get more of the benefit of the doubt today. There is a pleasing irony though in the way Robert, who made his fortune defending wealthy criminals, had lost it because he now in turn has to pay huge legal fees to an expensive female lawyer.

Towards the end the format blurs, and instead of interacting with the contemporary version of each other, the older and younger versions of the characters start interacting with themselves, the former confronting the ways the latter helped create the person they are in 2017. It's a bit of an abrupt shift but Josh Seymour's production has the luxury casting to help pull it off. Ragdoll is based around a fascinating idea and examines someone whose name remains well-known as a kind of scandalous figure without the details being quite as familiar any more. It makes for a lot of individual memorable moments but the uneven way it's held together left me slightly underwhelmed.

Ragdoll by Katherine Moar is booking until the 15th of November at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

Running time: 1 hour 10 minutes straight through.

Photo credit: Alex Brenner.