Her Very Many Faces, winner of the Marlowe Other Prize, is a play worthy of such an award. Written by Maddie Lynes and directed by Martha French, this is a stand out piece of theatre, approaching its vulnerable subject matter with a careful, searching intelligence. I’m always grateful and surprised when I encounter stories that bravely shine the spotlight on experiences otherwise peripheralized by the arts.

As is evident from her other works such as When We Were Normal, Lynes is genuinely interested in the feelings which fill us with shame, with the urges we pretend aren’t real. She consistently proves that the emotional landscapes of young women are not banal or vacuous, but are instead rich repositories of complex drama, worthy of an audience’s keen attention. Her work is a subtle testament to all the beauty and tragedy that might be mined from daily existence.

“Lynes’ work is a subtle testament to all the beauty and tragedy that might be mined from daily existence”

The play follows our unnamed protagonist, Her, played by Sarah Mulgrew, as she grapples with the complications of being a nineteen year-old trying to work out who she should be. Mulgrew is seriously impressive in this difficult role. Finding herself in the thorny territory that constitutes second term at university, we watch as our protagonist deals with painful feelings of class alienation and inadequacy. As Her navigates the minefield of online dating and making friends, she also copes with an eating disorder. Mulgrew effortlessly translates the giddy highs and private lows of her character. Her facial expressions conveyed a drama of subtle, emotional minutiae, and I was touched by her seamless transitions between joy and haunting vacancy.

The author’s treatment of the theme of eating disorders was refreshing and clever. Salacious spectacle and Freudian inquiry do not interest Lynes, and mental health was not fetishised by anybody involved in this production, from the director to the actors. Indeed, Mulgrew’s depiction of Her’s mental health was nuanced and understated, and her experience was not put under a voyeuristic microscope despite the visual economy of theatre. A lot of the protagonist’s life happens in the dark, and Lynes and French were judicious in selecting what moments the audience would have access to, and when privacy was instead called for.

“I was enraptured by the play’s depiction of the warm dizziness that characterises adolescent girls’ worlds”

Moreover, the electric chemistry between Her and best friend Phoebe, brilliantly played by Gaia Mondadori, was a joy to witness. I was enraptured by the play’s depiction of the warm dizziness that characterises adolescent girls’ worlds. Mondadori and Mulgrew’s quick-paced, love-filled exchanges were the heart of the play for me, and it felt validating to watch the nuanced drama of female friendship take centre stage. Coco Emmanuelle Wheeler and Jake Burke masterfully handled their dual roles, doubling as Mum and Dad as well as Her’s university peers. They acted alongside an impressive Joe Harrington, who offered a compelling performance of Her’s awkward tinder date.

With a simple, minimalist set of four boxes centre stage, repeatedly and collectively re-arranged by cast members between scenes, the play’s dramaturgy emphasised the material imbrication of social communities, where each individual has a stake in the other. As we witness the protagonist’s parents and university peers earnestly try, and resoundingly fail, to offer the right kind of care, the precariousness and impossibility of communication is brought to light.

It should be emphasised that despite the play’s darkness, Her Very Many Faces is also genuinely hilarious. Despite the several scenes depicting the protagonist’s haunting loneliness, a theme vividly brought to life by Talulah Thomas’ use of sound, it felt good and safe to laugh when fleeting moments of light crept into the room. Her Very Many Faces is a play that will sit with you once you’ve left the theatre, it’s a play you’ll think about once you find yourself alone. Handling tender material with dutiful care, Lynes illuminates how little we can ever truly know about each other and ourselves.

Her Very Many Faces is playing at the Corpus Playrooms from Wednesday 15th to Saturday 18th February, 9:30pm.