Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Low Down
After a drunken night and with a raging hangover Bonnie tries to remember what happened last night, with her two best friends Gen and Rachel caring for her but refusing to fill in the blanks. Covenant by Turning Point Theatre Company (TPTC) is a powerful piece, cleverly written by Laura Walker. The friendship between the three girls is beautifully crafted with strong parallels to witches as the title intends. The performers are powerful and have good chemistry, convincingly conveying this close friendship and holding our attention all throughout a difficult subject matter without resorting to melodrama.
Review
After a drunken night and with a raging hangover Bonnie tries to remember what happened last night, with her two best friends Gen and Rachel caring for her but refusing to fill in the blanks. At the beginning of the play recordings of anti-abortion messages play, hinting that maybe this world is even more anti-abortion than the one we live in. It is also mentioned that one of their friends is in prison for having an abortion. Slowly we realise that, although not extremely far from the reality of many countries nowadays, this is a world with zero tolerance for abortion and its accomplices, getting one will ruin your life forever, the state will make sure of it. It is hinted from the beginning and then revealed that Bonnie had an abortion the night before, which she doesn’t remember. We are then taken back in time to see how everything happened and all the lengths Gen and Rachel will go for their best friend.
Covenant by Turning Point Theatre Company (TPTC) is a powerful piece, cleverly written by Laura Walker. The pacing and the turns of the story are timed well, just the reveal of the abortion could’ve come sooner as it is quite obvious by the time the two friends admit to it. The friendship between the three girls is beautifully crafted with strong parallels to witches as the title intends, women that were punished for speaking their mind, supporting each other and being in contact with nature. What today was a feminist then was a witch and there is nothing more key to both than sorority. The natural elements are also strong with the set being mainly composed of bags of herbs, flowers and plants. Both the abortion inducer and the medicine to recover from it are ancient recipes passed down from woman to woman.
The connection to this “dystopian” world where women are policed for having abortions is far away for some countries and all too real for others. The concept of policing pro-choice women is very interesting and it would have enriched the story to see more of this. Gen is a medical student and she provides most of the context for it, by narrating things she has seen in the hospital. These moments would have benefited from being reenacted instead of narrated, to add specificity to this world. I was left wanting to find out more about what this world is like outside the four walls of the room where everything happens.
The performers are powerful and have good chemistry, convincingly conveying this close friendship and holding our attention all throughout a difficult subject matter without resorting to melodrama. Bonnie, Gen and Rachel are layered and grey characters, which the audience alternately questions and sides with. Nell Lang effortlessly performs Bonnie’s unlikeable selfishness without antagonising the audience, and Margot Pue is a strong Gen, the voice of reason, expertly providing the right level of sanctimony.
Covenant is directed by Issy Cory in a creative way, dynamising a seemingly simple play, which happens in one room with three actors in two timelines, with a variety of movement and choreography that differentiates the scenes between the three of them, the powerful monologues and the narration of events we don’t see. The sound and lighting design also elevated the story, keeping the audience’s attention hooked.
The play is a very successful exploration of complex female friendships and the state and possible future of abortion in the world, highlighting that even though women’s history has been bleak and in many ways still is, the support of our female friends will get us through a lot. With an engaging story, strong performers and clever direction Covenant has a lot to say and deserves to be heard by many.
