Asylum – from the Ancient Greek ásulon, a place of refuge. But does it deserve that name? Two women, separated by a century, find themselves in St Dymphna’s – and how different their two experiences are. After the death of Justine’s child, when her grief doesn’t fit the narrow definition of ladylike behaviour of the time, her husband commits her to a cold and lonely place isolated from all but the staff; while in modern times, Margo is encouraged to seek inpatient help for her psychosis, and reluctantly enters the same institution.

The setting and plot provide great opportunities to reflect on mental health issues, and how treatments have changed.  The work steps up to that challenge admirably, moving between the two women, mirroring and then contrasting their experiences – though I wonder if the effect could have been all the greater if their underlying conditions were more related.  While both are directed to the asylum by men in their lives, only one ultimately makes her own choice to enter; though both speak with the psychologist, one is curtailed the and other encouraged. Through these diverging experiences each woman changes, until finally they use the opportunities to regain control.

Through clever use of very simple staging, and minimal costume changes between characters, the action flows well and emphasises the similarities and contrasts of Justine and Margot’s lives.  Kody Mitchell (Dr Ribière and Lucas) does especially well in portraying two very different personas. The cast negotiates the narrow entry and exit to the stage well, but I wonder if dimming the lights might make these changes more slick, while smaller stools could make and the stage less crowded.

Personally, I found the ending a let-down, taking away from the power and pathos that had been so well crafted to that point.  It felt rather trite and disrupted the structure of the play, which had been doing so well with scenes for each woman that were at once the same and powerfully dissonant.

But overall, this play tackles the issues around mental health and the history of its treatment in an interesting and sensitive way. The small cast their there all to very believable characters, and though I felt cheated by the ending, the story up to that point was interesting and structured well.