Undermind

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Imagine being able to selectively erase some of your memories: would you want to do it? And would you still be the same person afterwards?

The general premise of Tom Campion’s new play, Undermind, is slightly reminiscent of Michael Gondry’s 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Yet his writing is original, engaging, and fast-paced. In just 60 minutes, Campion raises fundamental psychological and ethical questions about identity and culpability which can’t help but leave the audience feeling slightly unnerved. Whilst it is nothing special visually, the play is carried by its thought-provoking subject matter and the script is complemented by some brilliantly disturbing sound-effects.

The play centres upon Sophia, who is left suffering from nightmares and flashbacks after a traumatic event changes her life. As the story unfolds, Campion cleverly interweaves a variety of subplots into the script and succeeds in giving an impressive degree of depth to all of his characters. Most interesting is the ambitious Dr Smith, who believes that “clearing the memories helps us to see ourselves more clearly” and whose only memories are ones which are written down in a notebook, “as if they are things that happened to someone else, or in a film.” Although one or two scenes suffer from slight overacting, the young cast manage to pull off the multi-layered script admirably.

Neither Undermind nor The Curious Case of Sophia Wyatt, as it was previously called, are titles which do justice to the taut suspense and surprising depth that this play offers.