by Diana Miranda

Written by Angelika May, The Unicorn in Captivity is a powerful tragedy that explores the ways patriarchal systems —from the NHS to art institutions — diminish and fetishise the experience of women grappling with chronic illness. 

The story follows the relationship between F (May), an art student in her final year who conceals her health issues, and M (Charlie Collinson), a photographer who once gained brief acclaim for his series documenting his late mother’s cancer. When M discovers F’s epilepsy symptoms, he morphs into a predatory carer, obsessively chronicling her illness in a desperate bid for fame. While the 75-minute script could benefit from some trimming, the play is clearly well-informed, includes absorbing spoken word, and tackles the subject of chronic illness with care.

Vertebra Theatre founder Mayra Stergiou directs and weaves May’s script with sequences of heightened physicality and visual elements. Dressed in lingerie, surrounded by M’s artwork, and suffocated by the duvets she obsessively rearranges, F’s marginalisation is palpably felt. The embodied work offers surreal imagery, reminding us of Vertebra Theatre’s signature as a movement-led and highly visual company. In this production, however, such elements occasionally feel more like interludes than integral parts of the narrative, sometimes appearing pastiched rather than organic.  

The show is billed as in-yer-face theatre, and the male characters indeed exhibit a lack of empathy that is nothing short of brutal. M is portrayed as a selfish bully, and doctors are outright patronising. Such blunt character treatment, however, risks oversimplifying the complex power dynamics at play, sometimes favouring shock value over subtlety—for instance, when M shouts at F for showing symptoms when his cameras are off.

Despite aiming to highlight F’s struggles as she navigates the healthcare systems, it is M who shines brighter. His selfish motivations are clearly drawn, evolving from a young man coping with her mother’s decease to an artist exploiting trauma for fame. Plus, to double down, Collinson’s performance is infuriatingly compelling and notably sharp.

Interestingly, in a play designed to invite empathy, its structure mirrors the very system that others F. It is as if audiences were made compliant instead of allies as we consume the story of a young woman who fails to take agency in her narrative. We’re ultimately left under the impression that nothing in that set belongs to her.  

The Unicorn in Captivity runs through 13 July, then 30 and 31 July at Theatro Technis. 

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