Vault Festival review: Tinted, Amy Bethan Evans throws the spotlight on life and relationships for the visually impaired
13/02/2020
Writer Amy Bethan Evans' new play, Tinted, is another piece that explores what life is like for the visually impaired. While her previous play, Libby's Eyes, exposed the Kafka-esque nature of the benefits system, Tinted takes on friendships and dating.
Charlotte Eyres plays Laura, a visually impaired young woman, talking us through both childhood and adult experiences around friendships and relationships.
Her dad wants her outlook rooted in reality - he likes to take a hatchet to her favourite fairytales - but is equally over-protective and as a result, Laura isn't very worldly-wise.
She prefaces the tale of her first dating experiences with stories about her sex-education classes which are light on actual detail, to put it mildly.
The story flits back and forth in time so that a picture slowly emerges of a woman determined to be independent but with a growing awareness of her lack of knowledge and experience.
Like Libby's Eyes, there are plenty of cringe-worthy moments when both friends and strangers fail to consider her feelings and abilities.
But where Tinted gets really interesting is in the questions it raises about consent. Her ex believes there are no grey areas when it comes to #metoo but Laura begs to differ.
Her disability means she likes to know everything that is going to happen during sex. Does feeling violated mean that she has been?
It is the strength of the piece providing an interesting and different perspective.
Where the play is weaker is in the childhood segments which sometimes feel like they are getting in the way of grown-up Laura's story rather than contributing to it.
The music is also rather loud at times making it difficult to hear what Eyres is saying.
But this is otherwise an absorbing and fascinating piece and I'm giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
It is 60 minutes without an interval and is at the Vault Festival until 16 February.
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