A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, Young Vic ★★★★★

Eimear McBride's debut novel galvanised readers and critics alike. And, as the superlative reviews from the Dublin Theatre Festival premiere attest, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing on stage is every bit as arrestingly original. We caught it at the Edinburgh Fringe, and in the first weekend of the festival it was already one of the most talked about plays. So it is with a buzz of the anticipation that A Girl is a Half-Formed thing comes to the Young Vic's intimate Maria Theatre for a London premiere in 2016.

Page to stage

Irish writer Eimear McBride took the publishing world by storm with her debut novel A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, winning five major literary awards and cutting through preconceptions with an affecting and uncompromising portrayal of an unnamed young girl's experience of sexual abuse set against a backdrop of ardent catholicism and her brother's illness.

A Girl is a Half-Formed thing London Theatre premiere

Known for founding the Corn Exchange Theatre, Chicago-born director Annie Ryan made her directorial debut at the Young Vic, so it is fitting that she now returns to the theatre with a blockbuster show.

It is the combination of precision and detachment that makes McBride's prose so striking, and Ryan's stage adaptation captures the cadences and intensity flawlessly. The Times describe the play of A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing as 'one of the best stage adaptions of a novel you are likely to see' and certainly the stream of consciousness narrative feels utterly alive on stage. As the novel's monologue becomes a taut one woman show, actor Aoife Duffin conveys each character though subtle postural shifts.

From the heart-rending details of sexual abuse to the charming snippets of childhood bond between the unnamed narrator and her ill brother, Duffin commands the stage. Sometimes brutal, sometimes tender, this intimate tale of one girl's suffering is impressively human. It's harrowing to watch, and will haunt you long after the final curtain.