Formation Festival: BEAST @ Assembly Roxy

Liam McCormick begins BEAST by arriving onstage, greeting us each individually, and immediately breaking down the fourth wall. He introduces his show: an exploration of the cycle of abuse, and a question: how do we recover? The spoken word performance that follows is assisted by Cee Smith, who both plays alongside McCormick in several of his scenes as well as individually performing some of her own work towards the end of the piece. Both are charmingly engaging as actors and poets, and hold a presence on the stage that is confident and unflinching as they delve into raw material quickly, without reserve.

McCormick presents us with a series of chapters, in which Zara – the character he describes and Smith relates – goes about her daily and nightly life, running away from her ex-boyfriend and encountering stereotypically sleazy men. These chapters come in titles, which are shown alongside illustrations on a screen at the back of the stage, each one numbered and beginning a new segment of the show. It's not always entirely clear, however, whether each title correlates with what is happening on the stage, making parts of the work a little confusing.

Continually switching mediums – from spoken word, to audio, to rap – McCormick can at times touch a harrowing nerve with great poetic skill. At others, it becomes difficult to follow a performance, which, while deliberately chaotic, can lose its ability to relate deep sentiment slightly, making it hard to fully engage with the piece. When McCormick sticks to a line of thought for long-enough, the performance can be heart-rending; but the constant chop and change of mind and setting makes it hard to experience a lasting impression.

That being said, both McCormick and Smith’s poetry is courageously personal and raw, and delivered with a touching amount of passion. BEAST creates a platform for thought and discussion, a discourse on abuse, survival and recovery which is critical. McCormick presents personal and universal experience, and his performance – although at times slightly unbrushed – can be as severe as it is genuine.

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BEAST @ Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, run ended