Corrine Salisbury’s one-woman show opens with a relatable establishing shot: we’re in a pilates studio somewhere off the Meadows watching Liane hold a lunge while trying to silence her intrusive internal monologue. ‘Hold it in’ she says, referring both to her core and a crescendoing rage building within her. Our lead protagonist (played brilliantly by Zoë Hunter) leaves her class and runs into a charismatic gentleman on the street. This seemingly insignificant interaction sends her into a spiral as she uncovers a corner of the manosphere she can never un-see. Liane turns to self defence in an attempt to protect her daughter Molly from predators that she now knows could be under their very noses.
While the delivery of the script occasionally lacks clarity (unnecessary props, interactions with lights and microphones are used to add interest and differentiate internal and external thoughts), SLAYERS still successfully builds in momentum and tension. We’re invested in the central character and her story, which increasingly interrogates sensitive themes with a nuanced level of moral quandary. The very concept of violence is deconstructed and served back to us in the form of a question; when all other systems fail, is it the only tool left available?
SLAYERS by Corinne Salisbury, Assembly George Square Studios, until 30 August, 12.15pm