Woe by Edit Kaldor was a stark performance piece with clever use of digital media.

We were brought into the experience in a playful and sensitive way, opening up our imaginations to vivid memories.

The story then began to weave in the experience of a neglected child alongside scientific information about the damage such abuse does to the brain.

A combination of textual interplay and the subtle skill of the performers brought the audience to a highly emotional state and then abruptly finished the experience without any release or resolution.

Guiding the audience through a triggering and vulnerable process is highly irresponsible and seemingly relies on the preconception that none of the audience members have suffered abuse or neglect in their own lives; that this is the first time they have thought about neglected children.

If the audience is invited to feel free to leave at any point then they should be provided with a clear and safe exit route; the only option here was to noisily exit across the stage.

There was definitely merit in Kaldor’s staging and text, however these were crowded out by the lack of purpose and direction of taking the audience to such a personal place.