Torn Out Pages

Torn Out Pages is an ambitious play – sexual abuse, suicide, love and mental illness are just some of the issues we are forced to confront in this darkly comic tale.

The story centres around 39-year-old artist Elaine who, when attempting to lose her virginity, has a flashback of the childhood abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother Rita’s boyfriend. Distraught by her mother’s betrayal, Elaine attempts to confront her about her lover and his abuse. The problem being that Rita dies before Elaine can get all the answers she needs.

It's a plot which feels like that of a distressing and disturbing play but in fact, Torn Out Pages never feels oppressing and is actually very funny in parts. The play is also an attempt to fuse different types of media on stage: Elaine is an artist, her neighbour Andy is an opera singer, her mother Rita was a dancer and her mother’s boyfriend is a musician. In this sense, Torn Out Pages subtly fuses music, dance and art, a culmination of which creates theatre, and at the same time providing the perfect medium for Elaine to finally confront her demons.

Torn Out Pages has it’s clichés – ever heard the one about the tortured artist? However it is also superbly acted and emotional charged. In particular the scene when Elaine comes face-to-face with her mother’s ghost, finally breaking down under the strain of grief, anger and forgiveness, is deeply touching. This is a brave production which tackles a disturbing topic with charm, humour and conviction.