Dixon and Daughters at National Theatre: A harrowing tale of abuse
It’s easy to get sniffy about soap operas but there’s an undeniable value to those nightly instalments of drama that shine a powerful light on the minutia of modern life.
Dixon and Daughters, a new play by Deborah Bruce, brings to mind the very best of soap opera, from its domestic setting to the complex familial relationships that seem to arrive on stage fully formed.
It begins with the homecoming of bad-tempered family matriarch Mary. Her daughters Julie and Bernie, along with granddaughter Ella, attempt to create a party atmosphere but it soon becomes clear this is far from a happy occasion.
There’s talk of Mary visiting her husband’s grave, only someone has daubed unseemly graffiti on it, and people keep mentioning a woman who’s name Mary refuses to hear.
It’s clear this is a family dealing with the aftermath of abuse, the extent of which is drip-fed over the course of the tight 90-minute run time.
The fact everyone is walking on egg shells, trying not to mention the unmentionable, is masked by a chippy northern bravado, at least until the family are joined by two more women, one a figure from their past and one who Mary met during her time away.
It’s essentially a study of the way people deal with trauma, be it through alcoholism, self harm, self-help or simply shutting it out for as long as possible.
It all plays out in a wonderfully realised two-up two down, complete with transparent walls that allow us to voyeuristically track the family as they move from room to room.
The set design hints at the psychic damage of its inhabitants, with the sides of the house sheared away, revealing jagged brickwork. Director Róisín McBrinn borrows from the horror playbook, with strange lights and sounds disturbing the family as they sleep, and a dark energy emanating from the little bedroom upstairs.
Starting out as a dark comedy, Dixon and Daughters ends up a harrowing melodrama, pulling no punches in its examination of trauma. It’s held together by exceptional performances across the board, giving a human face to the sadly topical issue of child abuse.