Trigger Warnings: Mentions of sexual assault, pornography, self-harm, violence and substance abuse.
Exeter University Theatre Company’s ‘Eigengrau’ kindly invited Her Campus to watch their production last week. Their incredible term one production was performed from 5th-7th December, directed by Tate Jackson and Rex Elliot. Their excellent cast comprised Phoebe Jones, Niall O’Mara, Sophia Pettit and Finn Elliot.
As enigmatic as its title, ‘Eigengrau’ is a play written by Penelope Skinner, having premiered in March 2010 at the Bush Theatre, London. I went into the Exeter Theatre Company’s production of ‘Eigengrau’ with no prior knowledge of the play. Having watched it, I would recommend going into it blind and not searching for what happens beforehand. I believe that the unexpected and erratic nature of the play is what brings it its charm.
Kookiness. Millennialism. Urban chaos. Identity politics. Sexuality. The intertwining of unique personalities. Extremity. ‘Eigengrau’ isn’t a play that holds back from such intense themes. With a play covering such a wide breadth of extreme themes – although I would argue some themes remain frustratingly undeveloped (such as the recurring mentions of rape with almost no development and the grief in Tim’s character playing an important yet somewhat unexpanded role), it is difficult to perform cohesively.
The Exeter Theatre Company masterfully flowed from scene to scene without any confusion or awkwardness. As a rather episodic play, each scene eased into the next, with snippets of rooms to let, job ads and sexually explicit Google searches flashing across the wall, alongside charming videos of the cast wherein the audience could see how passionate they genuinely are about their project, and voiceovers overlapping one another.
During these transitions, the audience was embraced with an authentic feeling of London-ness. We felt the chaos of young Londoners trying to solidify themselves in a small city packed full of ambition. I believe that in some productions it is futile to identify central themes. ‘Eigengrau’ is one of these which can make it, initially, confusing to grasp. For all the glimpses at the cost-of-living crisis; sexual exploitation; heartbreak; relationships; friendships and financial struggles, I believe that the overarching theme is simply people being people in a city which seems impossible to succeed in.
One of my favourite features of the play was these transitions. Opening with Sophia Pettit’s character Cassie Grey writing a speech against the glorification of porn in rape, the audience is shown her writing process on-screen while Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes / Arpeggi’ plays. I thought this was one of the best openings to a play I’ve ever seen. The dissonance between the song and the unsettling pornographic material on-screen instantly hooked me and sparked engagement and tension. Pettit did an incredible job capturing the desperate desire to make a change while feeling like this may be too difficult an achievement to make.
Another source of genius in the production was the cast’s ability to make characters that could so easily be unlikeable likeable. I wouldn’t say I was rooting for any of the characters specifically. The script doesn’t make the characters the easiest to relate to or enjoy. Once again, the characters are written to be twenty-something-olds trying to do their best in the world despite the difficulties they’re facing. Grief. Insecurity. Misogyny. Financial difficulties.
Originally, I believed Cassie would be the character I would relate to the most: assertive; feisty and determined to defend the rights of women. However, the choices her character makes aren’t the most forgiving, such as her relationship with the power-hungry, dismissive and manipulative Mark, which went behind the back of her flat mate Rose who is head-over-heels for Mark. But Pettit did an excellent job at enabling the audience to understand Cassie and made her a woman that other women could understand. Despite her keen attempts to remain strong and unresolved, she was manipulated by Mark, revealing that even the strongest-minded people can fall for the wrong sort
of person, making Cassie’s character heartbreakingly relatable. Cassie’s ending – pregnant, most likely by Mark, and not in a relationship with him – was refreshing. Pettit’s performance of iron-will seemed to end in a suitable storyline for her character and I was relieved she didn’t end up with the infuriating Mark. Mark – arguably the least likeable character of the performance – was a chameleon-like character. In an effort to seduce women, he altered his interests and behaviour. While I found his character deeply unlikeable, Niall O’Mara made him possibly the funniest character of the performance.
His manipulation of Cassie and Rose and his attempts to alter his friend Tim into a typical ‘finance bro’ epitomised toxically masculine men in the upper-echelon of London society in an American Psycho-esque Yuppie-era-inspired fashion. O’Mara did an incredible job encapsulating Mark’s conformity to old-fashioned masculinity ideals yet did so in a way that was still relevant in a post-Andrew Tate era. To make a deeply conflicted and immoral character like Mark effortlessly humorous – rocking up on-stage in a tie-dyed ‘I Am Kenough’ T-shirt and screaming how “University of Exeter is the top university!” – was a testament to how talented O’Mara was.
The foils to Cassie and Mark’s characters were their respective flat mates Rose and Tim. Skinner’s script depicts the extremes of personality types. Cassie – more pragamatic – couldn’t be further from the inanely ditzy and eccentric Rose. Her script does not shy away from making Rose potentially the most irritating character, going over-the-top on references to numerology, astrology and an irrefutable belief in romance and destiny. However, Phoebe Jones performed Rose in a way that was touching and made her – in my opinion – the most likeable and sympathetic character of the play. My personal favourite moment of the play was how Rose yelled at Cassie to stop preventing her from being her hopelessly romantic and undeniably delusional self.
Throughout the play, there was an unfortunate feeling of women versus women. I feel that internalised misogyny is scarcely portrayed in media and ‘Eigengrau’ subtly portrayed this symptom of the patriarchy. What I loved the most was it was not Pettit’s feminist-idealised character who resolved this conflict, but it was Phoebe Jones’ character. Rose yelled “I admire you” – a touching and sentimental moment for a character who was regularly demeaned and patronised for her spiritual and hippie-ish nature. The climax of this performance was Rose’s act of self-harm in which she gauged her eyes out with high heels after Mark’s final rejection of her.
This scene was difficult to watch and undoubtedly more difficult to perform. Jones did so masterfully, and the audience watched silently as she stammered the lyrics to ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ preceding her self-harm. Jones’ acting expertly portrayed the conflicting nature of excessive optimism and mental-health issues. Her character suddenly became less stock-like and far grittier and more relatable. With a ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ Blanche-like essence, Rose was easily the most likeable and I was thrilled to see her receive her happy ending.
Tim, on the other hand, was unfortunately the character with, I believe, the least amount of time on-stage. Finn Elliot performed the carer Tim’s character in the most likeable fashion and while I think his grief over his late nan deserved more stage-time and development, his character was fully fleshed out and endearing. I think it’s a shame that his robbery of his fast-food restaurant in an effort to help Rose afford her rent was not mentioned after Rose’s mention of “miraculously” being given an envelope of money. It seemed out-of-character for cute and reserved Tim to commit a crime, however revealed the extent of his commitment to those he cares about. Once again, I was thrilled to see Tim and Rose receive their happy endings and thought the cast adroitly revealed the complexity and nuance of their somewhat unhinged characters.
With my little knowledge of the play, I have researched past performances of ‘Eigengrau’ since watching the Exeter Theatre Company’s production. Honestly, I do not believe that ‘Eigengrau’ could be performed better. I am so glad to have been invited to the production and thrilled that they chose to tackle such a
complex and kooky play. It was a pleasure to watch; the cast and crew put together an inspired and grounded performance of a play that I would suggest is one of the most difficult to perform out of the numerous plays I have seen in my life. They couldn’t have done a better job, and I cannot wait to see what the Theatre Company will do next.