Review: 5:45, Theatreship

Routine is Maya’s religion. She lives by her schedule, even factoring in the unforeseen circumstances that might lead her to needing more time to rest on a Saturday. She manages the accounts of a food packaging company and lives in London with her boyfriend. Maya is as normal as it gets. She is our friend, our sister, our neighbour. She might be a bit neurotic, but aren’t we all? Abi Watkinson’s play is a damning look at the cult of productivity, a commentary on societal standards, and a precise indictment against the continuous pressure faced by women to grin and bear it.

In a swift, slender 45-minute monologue, Watkinson distils our contemporary malaise. The writer and performer lights up when her character tells us how much she loves to-do lists. Then, her demeanour changes when she discloses her true feelings about her partner. Though she’s oblivious to them, the subtle signs of psychological abuse seep through her retelling just like the early warnings of burnout do. Watkinson owns the stage with unfaltering assuredness, dipping in and out of the facets of emotional complexity smoothly. 

The story is colloquial and mundane, yet surprisingly gripping thanks to Maya’s personality. She’s endearing and (un)accidentally funny. She self-deprecates and fidgets, wringing her hands and never staying still for more than a handful of seconds. Directed by Eve Hartley, the production is remarkably paced and calibrated. The silences balance those moments when her logic rushes the narrative forward, creating a natural and unpretentious fluctuation in the speaking rhythm.

Watkinson introduces Maya gradually and with purpose by showing her habits. By the time she undoes the knots in the plot, we’re invested. The build-up to the central dramatic point is deliberate, never sluggish or random. She curates the stream of consciousness by corralling it thematically at the beginning, but the various strands naturally bleed into one another to create a well-rounded and realistic persona.

The piece may be on the shorter side, but anything longer would have eventually overburdened the storyline. Perhaps more attention could be given to the ending, which sneaks up with uncharacteristic speed and isn’t as tonally sophisticated as the previous parts, but 5:45 remains an impressive achievement. It’s also a striking reminder that it’s too easy for awful things to happen to the most ordinary of us.