The State vs John Hayes.

At the beginning of 2012 there were 58 women on death row in America.  The State vs John Hayes is a searing seventy minute monologue by one such woman.  Lucy Roslyn is utterly compelling as a prisoner awaiting execution, musing on the method of her death, her final meal, the fates of the mother she hardly knew and the son she leaves behind.  Deftly weaving a story of abandonment and abuse, misplaced loyalty and misjudged devotion, she is by turns witty, endearing and surreal, seducing her audience utterly before she reveals chilling glimpses of the psychopathic killer within.  An exploration of evil and innocence, of gender and identity, of the media’s voyeuristic fascination with violence and the perpetrator’s slow acceptance of guilt; the direction is subtle and precise, the writing is brilliant and the performance is magnificent.

Hen and Chickens Theatre, 109 St Paul’s Road, London N1, 7.30pm, Monday 9-Saturday 14 April

Writer: LR Hunt

Director: Richard Warren

Actor: Lucy Roslyn

© Katie Campbell 2012