Editor’s note: This review contains spoilers.
LONDON – Inter Alia, written brilliantly by Suzie Miller, is both the most traumatizing and important play I have seen.
Listen to the author read this review:
The play, which ran through June 20 at Wyndham’s Theatre in London opens on Broadway on November 10. It is also available through National Theatre at Home.
The show begins with Rosamund Pike as Jessica Parks, a Crown Court Judge. A live drum kit, played by her son Henry, thumps as words flash in bold capitals on either side of the stage, affirming her courtroom dominance.
The case, rape. Jessica is confident, passionate, and unwavering in her conviction. The man is guilty. “Fuck the patriarchy.”
Her courtroom is her world.
Inter Alia is a brilliant exploration into family dynamics, masculinity, feminism and rape.
The audience watches in awe as Pike masterfully reveals Jessica’s tumultuous relationship with her son, Henry. Periodically, flashbacks partition scenes in court and at home, showing Parks’ huge volume of responsibilities both at work, in her family and as a feminist.
Throughout the play, Jessica never feels good enough in any of her roles, a feeling neither her husband nor her son ever expresses.
Parks is dedicated to abolishing rape myths from her courtroom, however, when her son is accused of rape by Amy, her morality suddenly shifts, leading the audience to question “What would I do?”
As Parks’ ethics weaken, the drums that once accompanied her courtroom convictions are played faintly by a younger Henry on overturned pots and pans, her subconscious longing for a simpler time.
Miller’s brilliant writing leads the audience’s own morality to falter alongside Jessica’s as they hope desperately that Henry is telling the truth, that his not-guilty plea will be heard.
As a feminist and an avid believer of victims, this manipulation of my world view, which upon entering the theater had felt so secure, left me floored.
In a pivotal moment, after Jessica has found horrific porn and illegally explicit messages on Henry’s phone, he finally admits his guilt to her. He raped Amy as she slept, he told his mother, “because I could.”
Jessica is left stunned, forced to choose between her sacred ethics and her own son.
This play should be required watching in all schools.
The conversations it starts about consent, porn and sex are so important, particularly to have with young people. As a woman, I was left terrified, angry and – shockingly – empathizing with an 18-year-old rapist.
This play provoked me to step back from my anger and consider what led Henry to commit such a terrible crime.
Inter Alia reveals the problems in society that lead young men to rape.
The easy access to porn, the general lack of respect for women’s careers, the expectation that a mother should handle everything.
These are problems with society.
This is why young men fall into the trap of toxic masculinity, the manosphere.
These are problems that together we must try to solve.
Inter Alia is just the start.
Elodie Cockerell is a Junior Reporter and Illustrator with Youth Journalism International.
Click on the image below to see more of Youth Journalism International’s ongoing series on toxic masculinity.
