The subject of British-Jamaican playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s debut play ‘Dirty Butterfly’, first performed in London’s Soho theatre in 2003, is domestic violence and its devastating repercussions.
Green tackles her subject from a very different angle. Amelia and Jason are a struggling, poor young couple living in an inner city tenement block. Their relationship is challenging however it’s the dramas involving their next-door neighbour, Jo, who is involved in an abusive relationship that pushes them to the edge.
Every night, through the paper- thin walls, they hear the abuse and the sounds of violence taking place next door. It just distresses Amelia no end. Jason is distressed too but his reaction is also peculiar. Jo’s dramas bring out the voyeur in him and he’s always listening out for what might be the next drama.
A weird triangle of co-dependency envelops Amelia, Jason and Jo. During the night Jo is assaulted, during the day Jo often comes to cry and lean on Amelia, who is too nice to just tell her to get lost! Things come to a head when one day Jo comes into the cafe Amelia that works in, just as she’s closing up for the day, with her outfit splattered and dribbling with blood, looking as if she’s on deaths’ door.
This is the harsh, raw world of ‘Dirty Butterfly’, a very appropriately titled play. Green’s portrayal of domestic violence is spot-on, in particular its depiction of the victim, who despite realising the horror of their situation, continually goes straight back into it. This isn’t pretty theatre but it sure is forceful!
Wayne Blair directs this Sydney revival tightly. The performances were strong; Zoe Houghton played Jo, Dorian Nkono was Jason and Sara Zwangobani played Amelia. Teresa Negroponte’s dark, dank tenement brick wall set, Stephen Hawker’s stark lighting design, and Steve Francis’s edgy soundscape came together to create a claustrophobic, prison like world.
A Flour Sugar Tea-Tales and Arts Radar production, in association with B Sharp, ‘Dirty Butterfly’ plays downstairs at Belvoir Street until August 1, 2010.
Review posted July 14, 2010.