The Read Through

This is a fictional reimagining of the Patty Hearst kidnap story, jumping between two timelines, 2017 and 1978. Two characters, Holly the heiress and Robert her lawyer, appear as both their 1978 and 2017 versions.

Holly and Robert work through what each feels they are owed by the other, the catalyst for the action is an unspecified accusation against Robert. He wants Holly’s public support to help his cause.

Both timelines are compelling. The exploration of trauma and accountability across the decades as it’s experienced and then as it is recollected is fascinating.

On first reading I felt that by the end the two stories got in each other’s way, in a literal sense. The 2017 and 1978 versions of the two characters interact in the same space. I’d happily watch a play that told either of these stories, ending with both initially didn’t feel particularly satisfying. I was invested in the real worlds of these characters. Ending with a fantasy interaction of past and present selves steps out of the realism and dilutes the impact of the story. I wanted either timeline to have the space and depth of a full length drama. I’d love to see the two separated into two distinct plays. Imagine watching both on different nights to compare and tease out the links and parallels and meaning between the two. Commercially that might be a bit of challenge… but artistically I’d be there.

But maybe that sense of dissatisfaction is the point. Reading the play a second time without narrative expectations, concluding with a clash of timelines felt right. The ramifications of 1978 are ongoing, embedded in character and resisting closure. This was a play that drew me in and left me wanting Moar (sorry…). A second read delivered exactly that.