A darkly funny story of addiction and recovery – what are the lies we tell ourselves, and how do we get free of them?
This brilliant one-man show, written and performed by Peter Cook, runs for five nights at the Old Red Lion Theatre as part of the Pleasance’s Best of Edinburgh season. Directed by Bridget Boyle, ‘Breaking the Castle’ follows the character of David Smith through a spiral of chaos: drug addiction, gambling, social isolation, and ultimately, recovery. The play is largely based on Cook’s own experiences, and you can believe it – his portrayal of the highs and lows of addiction is extremely compelling.
Boyle and Stage Manager Ieuan Watkins make good use of the small space, keeping the set minimal: a few chairs, clothes and empty beer cans vividly conjure the sparse and rather depressing space in which Smith exists between benders. The very same stark room is cleverly transformed into the setting of euphoric highs, with the aid of bursts of white powder and intelligent intervention from sound designer Kimmo Vennonen.
Cook is, of course, entirely believable as Smith – but not just as an addict. His portrayal of trauma, isolation, and the pernicious consequences of job insecurity are equally poignant, and proof of his range as an actor.
The secondary characters which people the drama don’t quite achieve the same success. Early on, there is a scene in a support group in which Cook plays several different characters in quick succession. The dialogue here is difficult to follow, and a bit clunky, leaving little space for the audience to take it in. The counsellor at the rehab centre Smith attends also fails to fit smoothly into the tone of the play, veering often towards more of a lecture on the 12 steps than an engaging dramatic performance. In general, the depiction of rehabilitation and recovery involves more telling than showing, and is less convincing as a result.
Cook’s motive for writing the play was, at least in part, ‘to humanise people suffering with these issues’ – an aim in which he certainly succeeds, as arguably the best scene in the play is Cook’s portrayal of the insidious internal logic which governs the mind of David Smith, debating a pick-up which was always inevitably going to happen. He persuades himself that ‘we’ll get on the straight and narrow first thing tomorrow’ – and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I doubt there was a member of the audience who did not recognise themselves in Smith at this point.
Cook leads us here to the heart of addiction, and one of the biggest obstacles to recovery: denial. Journeying with him through a 5 star rehab facility in Thailand, we learn that honesty is perhaps the most crucial step on the road to recovery. The end goal? Reality.
‘Breaking the Castle’ is a drama of universal relevance, in which the audience are intimately, unavoidably involved.