Shay Mace
Content Warning: Contains discussion of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) and Partner Abuse
As Emma Lynne Harley emerges onto the stage encapsulated in a giant egg costume, you become quickly aware that Walking on Eggshells is going to be a show that is quite happy to burst through any expectation, genre or preconception you had about what a show covering Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) might be like. This autobiographical piece tracing their journey with trauma is a kaleidoscopic cabaret-cum-Ted Talk-cum storytelling show that delves deep into the mind (and through as many egg puns as you can possibly fit into 75 minutes).
Harley looks to explore the duality of time and trauma through a forensic lens – covering chemistry, psychology, neurodiversity, and many more topics in vignettes that weave through their personal experiences and imbue them with scientific grounding. It is at once a piece underlined by science as it is also itself a scientific enquiry, all with songs derived from the pop vocabulary that punctuate the process of experiencing, rationalising, understanding and living with trauma. Harley’s life story becomes a method of excavating patterns, and explaining to an audience how it really feels to live with CPTSD, experience its symptoms, and understand them in an academic context.
It is, at the same time, a deeply personal piece that is traced by Harley’s own love of sci-fi, nerd culture, David Attenborough (among other famous Davids who soon make an appearance), pop music, and queerness. Squishing so much into one piece is an epic feat, and one that does not always segue automatically, yet the sheer scale blended with the personality that pulls all these distant strands together gives Walking on Eggshells a distinctive flair.
There’s much to admire within the creation of this show, which has been a 7 year process culminating in funding from Creative Scotland Scissor Kick. It would be too easy for a show that has to cover so much clinical and academic language to push the audience out. Rather, Harley’s process of exploring their lived experience in such a focused, intersectional manner means the only thing being pushed is the audience’s creative boundaries. From moments of direct address, audience interaction, and encouragement to cheer and holler as Harley performs a burlesque number dressed as a chicken, it’s a wholly involved process to be an audience member in this show.
This may not appeal to everyone’s tastes, and Harley’s outfit Siren Theatre are acutely aware of this, providing audience information packs alongside continual checks of consent and the offer of post-show support, as we delve deeper into how a series of partners have treated Harley, and how they got around differentiating them psychologically, the piece reveals its divulging form – to put to light what it feels like to be confronted by a primal instinct to relive the most damaging moments in your life.
At 75 minutes, the show does feel as though it could be shaved down in areas, and that the carry-through between the piece’s many varying scenes could be more cohesive. There are some moments lingered on – particularly some songs – that feel they aren’t adding to the otherwise dynamic and engaging through-line of the show. As a debut and the first staging of the show, however, it feels nascent, and powerful to see a new theatrical language emerging. The solo performance at the heart of the piece never slows down for a moment, and Harley leads a commanding stage presence with genuine drive to unpack all of these themes and see them served justice.
Harley is surrounded by a masterfully creative set created by Alisa Kaylanova, which evokes the best of game shows, sci-fi, and makes great use of the show’s extended efforts to be accessible, including surtitling, to have a cohesive identity.
Assertive, empowering, and throughout utterly hilarious, Walking on Eggshells delivers a powerful vision for connecting empathy, introspection and effervescent academic exploration.
Performances of Walking on Eggshells have now concluded at Summerhall, but will continue at Paisley Art Centre on Friday 22nd May from 19:30 (75mins). Tickets are available through the Venue’s Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Andy Catlin
