A therapist at an NHS counselling unit jokes darkly about throwing mental health patients out of an office window in the opening scene of this drama as he welcomes a new employee into the fold. Newbie Lydia (Lizzy Watts) does not see the funny side of it, but the joke plays out in the plot line, metaphorically. Georgina Burns’ play is an unshowy and accomplished debut, set mostly around the office (Debbie Duru’s origami-like set folds and unfolds into different rooms). It is full of perceptive insights into mental health management in a desperately overburdened system.
This office creaks with waiting lists and therapists are forced to push patients out of their doors quicker than they would like. Lydia is determined to bring change and pits herself against the unit’s more seasoned and perhaps more cynical counsellor Arthur (Jon Foster).
Directed stylishly by Tessa Walker, its focus is one “revolving door” patient called Daniel (Josef Davies), a depressive who lives co-dependently with his mother. Daniel is not seen as high risk or deemed a potential danger, such as in the case of Christopher in Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange. And unlike Christopher, the system does not want to bring him further in but to medicate and discharge.
The therapy sessions between Lydia and Daniel take some time to flare to life but are strong when they do. The script offers up no easy solutions and feels all the more mature for it. The office conversations come far more instantly alive and the repartee between Arthur and office manager Denise (Andrea Hall) zings with gallows humour; the actors have an effortless chemistry and their scenes contain great verve.
Lydia is a tougher part and Watts works hard to find a balance between youthful conviction to change the system and uptight sanctimoniousness. She stays closed-up for a little too long, perhaps, her backstory delivered in part, late on.
The play’s understated drama is both its strength and its weakness. We walk away believing in its issues entirely but perhaps don’t feel its tragedy as fully. Either way, it is clear that Burns has great promise.
At Hampstead theatre, London, until 29 October.
