This Sh*t Happens All The Time is a one-woman autobiographical drama written by Amanda Verlaque and starring Catriona McFeely. It is being performed in Studio Four at the Assembly George Square Studios venue.
It follows the story of a young woman’s experience growing up in Ireland in the 1980s as she discovers her sexuality, going to a church that was rife with homophobia, and having to mask that part of herself for her own safety. In the 1990s she attends Queen’s University in Belfast, where she meets a bisexual woman and the two fall in love – only for her girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend to make an appearance and disrupt their happiness with threats.
This Sh*t Happens All The Time utilises no props, and contains no music (other than McFeely’s own singing), giving the performer nothing to hide behind and little room for error, yet McFeely flourishes under Rhiann Jeffrey’s direction, and makes it impossible to look away from her performance. This stylistic choice for set design also succeeds at creating a more intimate atmosphere for the audience, encouraging them to hang onto every word of the monologue.
Despite being a solo performance, the way that McFeely is able to seamlessly switch between each character, giving all of them distinct styles, means that she never feels truly alone on stage except for one moment following the final confrontation with the ex-boyfriend. This is a harrowing moment on stage, as the audience is faced with the character’s loneliness and reflects on the impact of toxic relationships.
Verlaque’s writing carefully balances its moments of comedy against some truly terrifying anecdotes in a way that always feels raw, vulnerable, and achingly honest. This Sh*t Happens All The Time is a deeply powerful and thought-provoking show about homophobia, toxic relationships and the harsh realities faced by women and the LGBTQ+ community. It is an important show for how it encourages its audience to question the lived experiences of these communities, and what it will take for change to occur.
