purged by Catharsis
Written by Chris Polites. It is a one women play exploring and dispelling cliques surrounding mental health.
purged is a play about the impossibility of communicating to others the issues around mental health deterioration, and trying to break the associated isolation by connecting to the world through the people it inhabits. At its core is the void in understanding and communicating to loved ones, the stresses of living with mental health issues and the stigma associated.
purged starts with an innocent question over a dinner table which sparks an extraordinary chain of memories and associations in this unique solo piece. Fusing physical theatre and intimate storytelling, purged is a heady account of euphoria, redemption, and extremity written by Chris Polites.
The story is told directly to the audience through an honest and powerful performance by one actor who constantly occupies the stage. The catalyses be
hind Purged is drawn from the writer’s; Chris Polites, time in the Greek Armed Forces.
purged started at a scratch night at the Bread and Roses in London, and had another scratch night at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell, before it's first preview at The Hope Theatre in Islington, where it then went on to premiere at the Brighton Fringe Festival 2017 at The Warren.
★★★★ Act Drop
★★★★ BroadwayBaby
"The story is told directly to the audience through an honest and powerful performance by the incredibly talented actress; Orla Sanders. This show may be dark, but demonstrates it’s no easy matter for those suffering from mental ill-health, or those who live with them, illustrating the desperate need for communication between the two."
Praise for purged
"Brave and emotively powerful with a first-class performance at its core, 'purged' is a complex but socially important piece of theatre that certainly deserves a much wider hearing."
Act Drop
"The last few minutes break your heart with its simplicity. When a show such as this comes round, that does such a wonderful job of representing the struggles that come with talking about mental health problems, it would be a shame to miss it."
Broadway Baby
“stylized opening moments of purged feature the searching, haunted physicalisation of a mind in crisis”
A Younger Theatre
“Striking, thought provoking and desperately dark”
Views from the Gods
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chris Polítes
Director: Justin Murray
Movement Director: Amy Lawrence
Sound Designer: Paul Freeman
Lighting Designer: Lauren J. Cameron
Set Designer: Robson Barreto
Producer: Heather Ralph
CAST
Orla Sanders