REVIEW: Dust at the Trafalgar Studios

It is a rare treat to see a piece of theatre in which the artiste plays a role that she is so passionate about and so committed to that the audience can't fail to be moved and challenged by the performance. Milly Thomas has written and performs such a dramatic piece of theatre in Dust at Trafalgar Studios 2 which transfers from last year's Edinburgh Fringe. It feels that it is written and performed from the heart and with a desire to change people attitudes to depression and mental health. Milly reinforces this at the end by drawing attention to the role of the Samaritans in helping people affected by it. 

Alice has been dead three days when we meet her, looking down at her own body on the mortuary slab and over the course of seventy five minutes we explore the impact her death has had on her family and friends. Milly Thomas plays all roles and without the aid of costumes or props brings to life the other people in Alice's life before and after her death.

REVIEW: Dust at the Soho Theatre

Milly Thomas’s punching new play transfers to the SOHO theatre following a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer.

She plays a woman called Alice. Well, actually, she plays a lot of people in Alice’s life as well. But predominantly Alice. A woman suffering with mental health issues who is driven to taking her own life. Which she does, but not really. As in yes, she’s committed suicide, but - without getting too caught up in spirituality - something is still living. And with this she is still able to see everyone in her life, in the aftermath of her death.

She begins with a candid sense of objectivity. She talks about her body, or rather to it - apologising for not being healthy, for not making her lovers wear condoms and this is an interesting thought in itself; how we actively neglect something we have total control of and which is built to support and protect us.