Emily Bruni (Peep Show) comes to the Traverse this summer in Off West End Award-nominated Psychodrama, following a sell-out run as a pop-up in London last year.
This gripping, at times hilarious, revenge tale follows an actress in her 40s under investigation for the murder of an auteur theatre director.
With soundscape from the multi award-winning Gareth Fry (The Encounter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child), lighting by Fleabag’s Elliot Griggs, and set against the backdrop of a stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Bruni plunges us into the dark heart of show business.
From her initial police interview, through the world of her flat, shop work, auditions, to landing – against all odds – the role of Marion Crane in the director’s production of Psycho, Bruni’s actress confronts obsession, loss and self-worth. Psychodrama is filled with smart takes on what it means to be middle-aged and female in an industry captivated by stardust and beauty.
Writer and director Matt Wilkinson (My Eyes Went Dark, Finborough / Traverse, Edinburgh Festival / 59E59 Theaters New York) comments: Inspired by an actresses’ WhatsApp group and other actors’ stories, Psychodrama is a compulsive piece of storytelling that shows us a talented artiste whose only crime is to be the wrong side of forty. It’s painful, funny, edge-of-your-seat. An insider’s story. And the whole experience is stripped to the bone, fuelled by no more than light, sound and Emily’s brilliant performance.
