Adam Cachia’s adaptation of The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau draws the audience in from the very first moment and keeps us captivated from start to finish. The Human Voice is an hour-long telephone monologue of a women attempting to keep the failing parts of her life together as she is on the phone to her former lover. The audience are taken on a journey through THE WOMAN’s emotional battles as she converses and fights for the love of her life.

It is particularly impressive of the director to use different performers for each night of the production over the three-night run, making every performance a unique and different experience.

Maddy Myles, who takes on the role of THE WOMAN for the final night of the run, gives an intimate, brave, and striking performance. She must be commended for her believability on stage and the honesty of her character. It is a hard feat to keep an audience engaged for an hour-long monologue of a one-sided phone call but under the direction of Cachia, Myles does this task to an incredibly high standard.

The sound design by Áron Gyenge underpins the play perfectly. The music is both unsettling, disturbing and perfectly exaggerates the underlying abstract idea that we are watching this play from the perspective of THE WOMAN’s brain. All aspects of production work together within this intimate space to ensure that the meaning and depth of this play does not pass anyone by.

The play text itself holds themes of fragmentation, which is more than reflected in the characterisation and the set itself. Despite the original play being published in 1930, the messages within the production are incredibly prevalent to audiences of today. Cachia has successfully paid homage to the beauty of Cocteau’s original writing whilst lifting this production into relevancy in front of modern-day audiences and causing us to consider how we find and respond to human connection.

Peripeteia Theatre Company’s bold and moving production of The Human Voice is a perfect example of high standard, affordable Manchester theatre.

Unfortunately, The Human Voice’s run at the Kings Arms has now finished but you can keep updated with work being done by Peripeteia Theatre Company via their Instagram: @peripeteiatheatre

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Amelia Griffiths