REVIEW: THE THERAPIST at Baron’s Court Theatre 4 – 8 July 2023

‘Inventive subject matter in need of greater flexibility’ ★★★

It’s a noteworthy premise: A Peruvian lawyer is tasked with running a yoga workshop for jailed communist terrorists in a maximum-security prison, despite obvious misgivings. The titular Therapist is a character who not only has to overcome the natural unease and fear that this assignment presents, but also the lingering trauma that she and so many other Peruvians hold as a consequence of the campaigns of kidnappings and bombings perpetuated by these men, while in the process confronting her own troubled past centered around an abusive father.

While seemingly disparate, these twin narratives complement each other well in their themes of reflection and acceptance, while the other pleasant surprise is how present actual yoga is in the performance of the main actress Gigi Guizado. A tense scene about halfway through the play is a good highlight of this as The Therapist’s first lesson with the hardened prison inmates proceeds and Guizado has you right in the room with her as she nervously does breathing exercises and downward dog poses all while narrating the wary glares of her students. It’s a good script with inventive subject matter that unfortunately needs greater flexibility in its execution.

Because while she does nail the yoga, Guizado fails to find a good balance for the many emotions her character goes through during her 70-minute journey on stage. Always a little rushed from one moment to the next she fails to let things linger, with many emotional climaxes failing to land thanks to an often-exaggerated delivery from Guizado that rarely feel authentic, lacking a raw edge that the character’s words feel they really need to back them up. Far too much of the play felt performed rather than intimately confessed, and this was present especially when Guizado attempted to bring supporting characters to life – only the inmates end up believable and others merely stay as funny voices.

This could be a result of directing or Guizado’s own personal style, but for this script it clashes more often than it clicks. On the brighter side of things, this bumpiness cannot be said to come from a lack of effort by Guizado herself, who gives a spirited and high-energy performance throughout, and it can’t go unmentioned how effective the costume changes were between scenes, from business suits to a yoga outfit to the ‘de-feminized’ baggy clothes the therapist dons every time she enters the prison – each costume significantly cemented the sense of place and mood for each scene.

Ultimately then, for those interested in its fundamental themes there’s a decent time to be had here, but the production needs a better footing in order to really engage with audiences, yoga enthusiasts or not.

REVIEW: THE THERAPIST showing in Baron’s Court Theatre, 4th July – 8th July 2023

Box office: https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/the-therapist-by-gabriela-yepes

Written by Gabriela Yepes

Translated by Gigi Guizado

Directed by Sarah O’Connell

Reviewed by Harry Conway