Adult Child/Dead Child at Finborough Theatre Review

Claire Dowie performs the same words on the same stage 4 decades later. She always greets the audience upon arrival, instantly establishing a rapport. Reading from a script on a music stand, almost like a lecture, she begins simply “When you are a child and you don’t get any love, when there is no love, you get this feeling that you can’t explain…..”. A narrative stance she re-visits several times during the next hour, to pause, to draw breath, to reflect; it feels like a journey we are about to take together. 

Next, we are drawn into the action as Dowie describes and becomes the child who wishes she could turn into Spiderman, whose best friend is invisible, and her fondness for an elderly neighbour and her dog. Her parents are emotionally absent, punitive, and neglectful. Although she repeats, again and again, “I wasn't abused, I wasn't abused, I wasn't abused”. Just locked in a cupboard regularly and tied to a chair. 

Like many young children, she has an imaginary friend. They talk, they play, they argue, and the ‘friend’ gets blamed a lot. How long is it “normal" to have an imaginary friend? The friend makes her do things: steal, throw a brick through a neighbour's window and a hammer at her father's head. Eventually, she is sent to a psychiatrist and things begin to change. It becomes clearer that this ‘friend’ has become more sinister, and has more of a distressing presence which, later in life is even more apparent when she takes medication and finds some relief. 

What’s brilliant about this piece of writing is that we are watching a play about mental illness without it being the headline. We are engaged in the innocence of the childlike world, empathising with the frustrations and feelings of not being heard, of not being loved. We are inside the story without any labels or judgements, because Dowie is a master storyteller. What unfolds could objectively be described as a set of symptoms, conducive Schizoaffective Disorder or similar, but that is not what it is about. Although it’s a story not dissimilar to others with experience of the mental health system, being sectioned, medication, hospitals, hostels etc. Eventually, in this story, there is support, community, a new life, a dog, and a friend. 

It’s unbelievable that it’s nearly 40 years since Claire Dowie first performed AC/DC at The Finborough. Over that time, the play has been translated into various languages, performed around the world, and has become an essential text for many drama teachers in schools to study and perform. It feels timeless, and so does Dowie, still inhabiting it with such urgency, affection, and emotion. It is undoubtedly a monologue masterclass; simple, theatrical storytelling, with no bells and whistles. It is an honour to see Claire Dowie perform her work, where it all began; there’s an inexplicable feeling that we all arrived as strangers but left a little more like friends.

Adult Child/Dead Child performs at Finborough Theatre on select dates until 3 July.

★★★★