Believe - Linda Marlowe

Linda Marlowe is a hypnotic presence on any stage; in the intimacy of Traverse Two she is mesmerising.

Believe shows us four Old Testament women whose stories are moved to the present day. With a tightly written script by Matthew Hurt and crisp direction by Gavin Marshall, the black-clad actress inhabits these four women simply through changes of voice and body language.

For Hannah, the mother watching the torture and death of her sons whose religion forbids them following the dictates of their government, she achieves a calm and stillness that makes the events even more horrifying. Rachel, the prostitute who opens her city to its conquerors, is never still, guilt and self-justification pouring from her. Judith’s preparations for the beheading of Holofernes are presented as a sort of corrida; a danced prelude to death.

For me the most successful was Bathsheba, the uptight army widow addressing her dead husband Uriah, sent to his death by her new lover, David. Sitting upright on a wooden chair she is every inch the regimental wife whose bitchy comments provide some light relief in a very powerful, if somewhat grim show.

See it for the sheer power of Linda Marlowe’s performance.