Scratches at The Cage

With a gold foil, fringed curtain as backdrop, and a chair, Girl runs across the small stage, dancing and giving out high-fives. Scratches is writer-actor Aoife Kennan’s new play, directed by Gabriella Bird. Kennan is the writer and protagonist: she is Girl.

Girl eases her audience into the main themes of the play, mental health and self-harm, candidly explaining how she used to put on woolly socks after doing “the thing” to soak up the blood running down her feet. At first, her demeanour and acting seem to indicate this might be a one-woman show, until Best Friend (Zak Ghazi-Torbati) interrupts, joining her on stage. Then it becomes clear that this is not a contrived and self-indulgent monologue, but a series of events re-enacted with tasteful humour and staggeringly raw honesty by the talented duo. They find a perfect balance between darkness and lightness, with Best Friend offering riotously funny comic relief and brilliantly interpreting several characters (including Girl’s mum, who likes to get lost in his brown eyes and wants the two of them to get married, even though he’s gay). 

Kennan’s writing shines a warm and much-needed light on these important issues, without any glamorisation or romanticisation. She founded her theatre company, Plain Heroines, with a goal in mind: to delve into complex topics, telling difficult (and relatable) stories the way she wants to tell them – with humour, sensitivity and frankness. And, perhaps, also following Carrie Fisher’s advice: “Take your broken heart, make it into art.” 

To adapt one’s life into prose, poetry, theatre – any medium – is a painful and challenging process in itself, a deep scavenging inside oneself. To make a play about experiences with self-harm, attempting to be both funny, sensitive and honest, is arguably one of the biggest challenges an author can face. They are metaphorically naked in front of strangers, donating their joy, pain, grief, difficult GP experiences, smiles and bittersweetness to others, so that they might be able to relate or find solace in them. And Scratches does that brilliantly, with many funny lines, some club dancing, confetti, courage and candour. 

It is rare to watch a play that can not only make you belly-laugh and cry, but also think deeply about the world and the inherently human desire to feel seen, understood, and loved. Girl is a girl, a woman, but she could also be a friend, sister, a loved one. The universality of the experiences narrated, albeit uniquely hers, is what makes this play a gut-wrenching ode to youth, love, friendship, companionship and taking care of one’s mental health. 

Benedetta Mancusi

Scratches is at the Vaults from 31^st January until 5^th February 2023. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.