MONSTER
Seven Dials Playhouse
★★★½
“a deeply moving story”
Monster arrives on stage again after a highly-acclaimed run at the Park Theatre. The story delves deeply into the ongoing cycles of abuse and bravely explores some harrowing subjects, asking difficult questions about forgiveness.
Set against an affecting backdrop of newspaper articles about abuse (a nice malleable set design by Felix Waters), Monster tells the story of Kayleigh Grey (Abigail Hood) and her troubled childhood, before taking us on a journey through the consequences of abuse. The play begins by displaying Kayleigh and Zoe’s (Lauren Downie) hilarious teenage relationship, packing the opening five minutes with jokes that epitomise their chemistry, along with foreshadowing information we later learn about the abuse Kayleigh suffers. The writing, by Abigail Hood, moves the story through continuously darker events, as the comedy that is rampant in Act 1, dissipates in an Act 2 ripe with hard consequences. There are many hard-hitting duologues that are full of attack vs defence.
Hood expertly deals with the sensitivity of the topics explored in the play and moves the story along well. Although, at times, there feels like a bit too much reminiscing between characters, veering into exposition, this develops clear context for the audience and allows us to immerse ourselves in its world. It is painfully written as we often don’t know who to feel sorry for, and we have to ask ourselves who the real ‘Monster’ of the story really is. Kevin Tomlinson’s directing provides an engrossing pace and we really feel the frantic nature of the story. Some of the music in between scenes in the second act is affecting, however it’s generally a bit of a distraction, with the transitions starting and ending abruptly.
Abigail Hood is mesmerising as Kayleigh. She is convincing at all stages of her life and forces the audience to question where to place blame. The ensemble work coherently together and all the relationships are believable. A highlight of the supporting cast is Lisa Ellis as Mrs Hastie. Ellis provides an incredibly emotional mother, teacher, and human, that we feel deep pity for. She provides one of the most moving moments of the play and pours emotion into the role. Lauren Downie has bags of optimism behind her eyes that we hate to see disappear and Sarah Waddell is deeply authentic as an abuser and a victim of abuse.
The overarching message of the story is a bit hard to swallow as it feels slightly unsatisfying, but it is engrossing and we are deeply invested in the lives of these characters. Also, it would have been nice to have seen some of the rehabilitation Kayleigh went through, rather than skipping past it all. Regardless, this is a deeply moving story that provokes crucial questions about abuse.
MONSTER
Seven Dials Playhouse
Reviewed on 30th September 2025
by James Simons
Photography by Benkin Photography
Previously reviewed at this venue:
STORMS, MAYBE SNOW | ★ | September 2025
BLUE | ★★★★ | March 2024
SUNSETS | ★★ | September 2023
STEVE | ★★★★ | February 2022
