ONE HAND TIED BEHIND US: BETSY (Old Vic)***

 

By Sophie 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Bsf_PcLKs 

Available until: 31^st March 2021

Monologues don’t have to be about nice people. A monologue from an awful person can be really compelling, especially if it’s well-acted, and this certainly doesn’t apply only to monologues. We’re transfixed by Macbeth and it’s not till the end when Macduff and Malcolm realise the true situation and start fighting back that we really have someone to support and care about. Until then, we’re happy to watch the Macbeths cracking under the strain of their own actions, as Lady Macbeth slowly deteriorates and Macbeth murders one person after another in an effort to secure his continued presence on the throne. This could be enough to class Macbeth as a problem play, but instead, it’s seen as one of Shakespeare’s great tragedies. We don’t need to like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. All we need to do is watch and admire.

Betsy is not really anything like Macbeth, but it does have a main character who is very difficult to like – and she isn’t called Betsy. The main character is first introduced to us as a shareholder in her workplace. They are considering a change and the main character is invited to give her view and we see how she deals with it. Later, we learn about her sister, Betsy, who seems to have mental health problems. She lives alone in a place the main character doesn’t like and is clearly anxious and afraid of most things.

The way Betsy is treated is horrific and I’m not only referring to the big moment in the middle of the play. I do have sympathy with the main character because it isn’t easy to look after someone who has mental health problems. At least, it’s far from easy to look after me. I’m much more interested in clothes than my insurance (I am fully insured and have always taken care of this myself, I’m just completely bored with the whole thing), I find cleaning a physical challenge (it’s painful and it makes me dizzy) so I need help sometimes and even though I’m supposed to be a grown-up now, I would still rather talk about boys than the weather. And those are my good qualities.

Betsy’s sister tries to do the right thing. She visits her sister three times a week and books them an expensive holiday together. On the surface, these are good things to do. These are the kinds of things people would recommend. The kinds of things Betsy’s sister would be praised for.

But Betsy’s sister doesn’t really see Betsy. She only sees what she would want in Betsy’s situation; what she feels Betsy ought to want. What Betsy actually does want seems so far beyond her sister’s comprehension, it seems not to have occurred to her that Betsy might want something different. Those of us who are considered to be abnormal are not always sitting at home wishing we could be normal. We are trying to deal with the life we have, in whatever way we can. Other people might not understand, but we usually have some idea of what we like and dislike; what we can achieve and what we should not even attempt.

The main character’s attitude to her co-worker and Betsy are disturbing, but perhaps the most disturbing thing of all there are many people like Betsy’s sister and a worrying number of them have some considerable say in the care of vulnerable people.

It is unclear whether my reading of this monologue is the correct version or whether it is heavily influenced by my personal situation and experiences, but it is a very powerful monologue. Writer Ella Hickson has not held back at all in showing Betsy’s sister’s less redeeming features. She has also not held back in showing that Betsy’s sister struggles in many respects too and makes poor decisions and much as she’d terrify me if I met her in person, I did end up feeling a lot of sympathy for her. The writing is compelling and it’s very difficult to predict what might happen next, but everything that happens feels very realistic.

Jill Halfpenny plays Betsy’s sister beautifully, ensuring that she is a sympathetic character despite everything. She even finds humour within the text and gives the character an element of charm – the script is clever, but it needs a very talented actor in order to make it work and the Old Vic have found one.

 

A fascinating, original and brave monologue which is the first in a series – it will be very interesting to watch the others.