Iphigenia in Splott (Galeri, Caernarfon)

Let's get it out of the way first: Sophie Melville is remarkable in this play. It's a one-act, one-woman monologue which has a blistering story to tell, with twists and turns, shocks and surprises, joy and tragedy, just like your average episode of EastEnders.

But Melville doesn't just perform the monologue; she doesn't merely act out the role of Effie. Melville is Effie, she becomes her. With so much theatre, and particularly monologues, you can sense the performers acting. It's a largely unavoidable characteristic of theatre, the shared conceit between performer and audience that this is all artifice, it's pretend, make-believe. "We've paid good money to come and watch you mess about on stage for two hours."

But not when you watch Iphigenia in Splott. Because the performance is so magnetic, and the writing so truthful, that you're sucked into the fiction yourself, helped enormously by Effie's direct address to the audience at the start of the piece. It includes you, accuses you, and involves you. I was there with Effie in the Great Western pub, I was there with her in the bedroom with Lee, and I was certainly there with her in the ambulance. Boy, was I there!

Iphigenia in Splott is a soap opera-style story of love, lust and loss, of desire and resentment, and most of all it's a story of tragedy and consequence. I won't spoil it for anybody who hasn't been lucky enough to see it yet, but suffice to say playwright Gary Owen has woven a story so engrossing and involving that you come away at the end utterly bereft, exhausted and, most of all, angry.

Because this is a ferociously political piece, with much to say about the current Government (and, by default, the preceding one) and the age of austerity we're presently living through. It's about how Government cuts affect the individual, and in particular, individuals who can least afford such cuts. Effie is from a tough background, living in a far from affluent district of Cardiff called Splott. She has a loser boyfriend, no obvious parental presence, and a grandmother who disapproves of her alcohol-fuelled exploits (despite this, she still helps Effie out financially). She's from the side of the tracks most people turn a blind eye to; indeed, people even cross the road to avoid Effie and her kind.

But what Melville and Owen achieve through tight, clever writing and fierce, sympathetic performance is to make Effie a three-dimensional human being, there in front of you, on the stage. It's not Sophie Melville speaking Gary Owen's words. It's Effie from Splott.

There's plenty of laughter along the way, but ultimately this is a story with a tragic, heartbreaking conclusion. It is an uncompromisingly accusatory ending which points the finger at the audience, and wider society. Effie make a sacrifice for us all, one that is invisible but which costs her almost everything. And while I don't believe that what happens to Effie is exclusive to people from her social background, it is indicative of how those who can afford it least often suffer the greatest losses.

I also wonder quite why Effie is likened to Iphigenia, who, in Greek mythology, was murdered by her father after he offended the goddess Artemis. In some versions of the myth, Iphigenia does not die, but is rescued by her brother. None of this happens in this play, and the only real parallel I can glean is that Iphigenia/ Effie is a sacrificial lamb for somebody else's misdeeds. Iphigenia means "strong-born", "born to strength" or "she who causes the birth of strong offspring". While Effie may be these first two, sadly the latter is far from true...

Iphigenia in Splott has already received plenty of much-deserved plaudits. It started life as a Sherman Cymru presentation in Cardiff in May 2015, then enjoyed a run at last year's Edinburgh Fringe before returning triumphantly to the Sherman. It then transferred to the National Theatre in London, and is currently on a victory tour of the UK until the end of April. How Sophie Melville puts herself through this every time is beyond me, and commands my utmost respect and admiration. She won Best Female Actor in the English Language at this year's Wales Theatre Awards, and Owen was nominated for Best Playwright in the English Language.

Both deserve this recognition, for Iphigenia in Splott is a searingly powerful, riveting and important play.

The stats
Writer: Gary Owen
Director: Rachel O'Riordan
Performer: Sophie Melville
Performed at Galeri, Caernarfon, February 26th to 27th, 2016. Performance reviewed: February 26th, 2016

Links
Iphigenia in Splott on Galeri website (retrieved Feb 27 2016)
Iphigenia in Splott on Sherman Cymru website (retrieved Feb 27 2016)
Iphigenia in Splott on National Theatre website (retrieved Feb 27 2016)
Director Rachel O'Riordan on Iphigenia in Splott at the Edinburgh Fringe (retrieved Feb 27 2016)
Writer Gary Owen on Iphigenia in Splott (retrieved Feb 27 2016)