What happens when the systems that should be there to support you let you down and in fact, work against you. That’s the issue faced by a mother in Monsay Whitney’s Box Clever. In her interview, the playwright tells us about the real cases that moved her write the play that’s presented at The Bunker in a double bill with Killymuck. Read her interview, then book your tickets!
The double bill, staged by W14 Productions, run at the underground venue from 26 March to 13 April 2019.
The two shows have a lot in common. Both are one-woman tales. Both are written by women. And both have female directors; Catriona Shoobridge directs Killymuck, while Stef O’Driscoll directs Box Clever. Both plays explore the political cause and effect of what it means to be born and grow up with less.
Box Clever follows a mother whose life seems to be cyclical. The darkly comic tale follows her experience of refuge life and her commitment to do the best she can for her daughter despite the failure of the system.
The production stars Redd Lily Roche, whose previous work includes Land of the Three Towers at Camden People’s Theatre and The Nighttella at the Lyric Theatre. Box Clever was previously staged at the Edinburgh Festival, where Three Weeks was impressed by its “taut script and mesmerising performances” and British Theatre Guide said it “packs a real punch”.
Stef O’Driscoll
Whitney’s previous plays include Hand to Mouth, which was longlisted for both the Bruntwood and Verity Bargate prizes, and was also directed by Stef O’Driscoll when it was staged at Theatre 503.
Killymuck and Box Clever run at The Bunker as part of a season that also includes the Fringe First-winning Funeral Flowers, about a 17-year-old who dreams of being a florist, and Fuck You Pay Me, which brings together comedy, poetry and live music in a feminist love letter to strippers. They also sit alongside a number of exciting productions putting working- and benefits-class stories centre stage in London this spring, including Killing Nana (Hen & Chickens Theatre 9-13 April) and Starved (30 April-11 May).
Monsay Whitney interview
What inspired you to write Box Clever?
I wrote Box Clever, not because I would like to see refuges closed down and clients flung to the wolves, but because I feel strongly that support for, and treatment of, abuse victims could and should be improved.
In Britain, neither social services nor the local council nor refuge’s themselves have a legal ‘duty of care’ towards the safety and protection of the adults and children within their refuges. Unfortunately that is a fact. I find this absurd and if I am honest, really very sad. I guess the reason it shocks me so much is because it is these three organisations who run our refuges. It is these three organisations who determine whether or not a request for an investigation into incidences of harm in their refuge is warranted. It is these three organisations who are trusted to carry out any subsequent investigation, or else make the decision to close down an investigation into claims made about their refuge.
Monsay Whitney
Through research I learned of people who, though grateful that refuge’s exist, still have questions unanswered about their experiences and treatment by individuals within these organisations. Mothers who have been denied the investigations they have begged and fought hard for. I do not have the answers to give them. And so I wrote Box Clever.
I don’t think it is moral or right that any client be sacrificed for the greater good of an organisation – ever – especially when those clients are victims of abuse and those organisations are designed in order to protect them. I don’t believe anybody is beyond reproach.
How much research did you do to write this play?
I spent a lot of time looking into Section 20 of The Children Act 1989. Often a local authority will ask a parent to sign a ‘Section 20 agreement’ if the person who has been caring for the child cannot provide the child with a suitable home, whatever the reason for this and regardless of whether this is a short term or long term problem. If a parent refuses to sign a ‘Section 20 agreement’ then no local authority and no social worker has the power to remove a child without first obtaining an order from the family court authorising that step.
A case which particularly caught my attention was that of Hayley Gascoigne, a mother of four who collapsed and died of heart failure after receiving an “unfavourable outcome” at a family court hearing in 2017. Dr Francis Morris – a medical expert giving evidence at her inquest said, “We are increasingly recognising broken-hearted syndrome. People, simply through emotional distress, can have a cardiac event.”
I was in contact with Legal Action For Women, a group of mothers and carers who protest outside Central Family Court, Holborn, on the first Wednesday of every month. They are protesting, among other things, for an end to the secrecy of the family courts; an end to institutional discrimination on grounds of income, race, nationality, disability, religious affiliation or occupation; and an end to forced adoptions. I learned that there are more children in care now than at any other time since 1985. I learned that children from impoverished areas are ten times more likely to be taken into care than children from financially well off areas.
The mother in the story finds herself in something of a Catch 22 situation. How similar is this to situations you researched?
Very similar. Almost 30,000 single parent families were made homeless in 2017, when Box Clever was first staged. If it was decided that those parents could have avoided becoming homeless, they would have been classed as ‘intentionally homeless’. Parents are deemed ‘intentionally homeless’ if they have left suitable accommodation for any reason, which includes fleeing domestic violence, or if they have had to leave suitable accommodation because of something they failed to do, such as being evicted for rent arrears. If those parents are classed as ‘intentionally homeless’ then the local authority doesn’t have a duty to house them. If the local authority refuses to house them and they cannot secure suitable accommodation for their child, then the local authority can ask them to sign a ‘Section 20 agreement’ and if the parent refuses to sign a ‘Section 20 agreement’ then the local authority can obtain an order from the family court authorising the removal of the child.
Why did you feel this was such an important story to tell?
Well there’s some very good arguments for why there should be public scrutiny of family courts. And there’s some very good arguments for why refuges, social services and the local authority should have a legal ‘duty of care’ towards the protection of the adults and children within their refuges. That old chestnut – giving a platform to voices that otherwise never seem to be heard. These issues and these women deserve more support than it/they are currently garnering.
Why is theatre a great way of telling this story?
When it comes to social injustice, theatre audiences tend to put their money where their mouth is. Theatre has the potential to create change.
Why do you think it goes together well in a double-bill with Killymuck?
Whether we admit it or not, society confines us by class. Our personal worth and credibility is judged – among other things – by how our parents earn their money, how much they earn and what level of education we have achieved. Box Clever and Killymuck examine class inequality as it is experienced by individuals in their everyday interactions with others.
How do you feel about having Box Clever staged at The Bunker?
Chris Sonnex
I like the ethos behind Chris Sonnex’s season. Chris is a man of his word. And all the hard work has been left to Stef O’Driscoll, Redd Roche and the crew, which has been great for me. I haven’t had to do anything. I haven’t had any of the stress. It’s been really nice to keep my nose out and let these really talented artists do their thing.
What can audience’s expect from a trip to see Box Clever?
Gallows humour, lots of laughs, plenty of heart and a kick in the nuts when you least expect it.
