The Wonderful World of Dissocia

Published Wednesday 7 March 2007 at 17:15 by Thom Dibdin

Anthony Neilson’s subversively entertaining exploration of mental illness, originally produced for the Edinburgh International Festival in 2006 by the

Tron and the Drum Theatre, has been revived by the National Theatre of Scotland.

This is powerful stuff, which paints a fantastically enticing and entertaining account of the descent into madness of Lisa Jones (Christine Entwisle in superb form) when she stops taking her medication. Humour, song and joyous celebration mark out Lisa’s changing perception of reality in Miriam Buether’s carpeted set.

The strong ensemble cast meticulously mark out her movement into mania.

Barnaby Power’s critical opening scene performance as Zurich watchmaker Victor Hesse is particularly well pitched as the subtleties (and not so subtle lines) of the change are introduced. Jack James and Matthew Pidgeon as Dissocia’s guards keep up the engaging side of the surreal nature of Lisa’s imagination.

Where the balance is not quite right is in the way darkness and violence impinge into Lisa’s reality. James Cunningham finds the humour in his Scapegoat but the buildup to his rape of Lisa - carried out offstage on Amanda Hadingue as Victim Concentration Officer, Jane - has no edge of menace. And while the comedy continues as Lisa searches for her lost hour, the impending horror doesn’t seep in as it might.

The flat, Act II, portrayal of Lisa’s recovery in hospital is excellently worked, however. As nurses and relatives come and go while ‘normality’ is restored to Lisa, the powerful attraction of Dissocia is only accentuated. Clearly, and quite understandably, she will return there.