REVIEW: Little Scratch at The Hampstead Theatre Downstairs

Directed by Katie Mitchell, arguably one of Britain’s most important directors of theatre and opera, an auteur who makes beautiful work, she challenges conventional creative processes and always pushes the form forward. During a lively conversation in May of this year, with Kyoto Prize winner, director of Theatre du Soleil, Ariane Mnouchkine, Mitchell spoke passionately about feminism, her work with young people and her commitment to developing a sustainable model for making and touring theatre. With this in mind she directs Little Scratch, bold, provocative, lyrical and deeply moving, it is a masterpiece of our time. 

Released in 2020, Little Scratch, Rebecca Watson’s debut novel a successful experiment in form, shortlisted for both the Goldsmiths and Desmond Elliot Prize this year, reads like a musical score. It charts a day in the life of an unnamed woman who is in the grips of trauma, as she deals with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Dissonant, contrapuntal and fractured are her thoughts and seemingly impossible to stage. However, writer Miriam Battle adapts this stream of consciousness into an intoxicating and riveting stage play, which under Mitchell’s direction, is a stunning piece of live theatre.