In many ways a modern Greek tragedy, Scissor Sisters is based on real events that took place in Dublin in 2005 – when two siblings killed the boyfriend of their mother. Of course this doesn’t tell the whole story. Their mother Kathleen – a lifelong drug addict – left their father for a known rapist and the boyfriend in question turned his attention to her oldest daughter Lyn…

Written by Amy Connery and directed by Steph Allison, Scissor Sisters takes place in the visiting area of a prison in 2018. Connery plays Kayleigh, the younger of the sisters who is still serving time in prison. Meanwhile, Jackie Pulford plays Lyn, the older sister who was released after serving 12 years in prison. As Kayleigh stopped responding to Lyn’s letters a long time ago, Lyn is naturally uncertain how this meeting will turn out – the first one-to-one in many a year.

Each person makes with the pleasantres, but even this feels awkward. Between prisons’ way of eroding the social skills that are needed in the outside world and what happened the last time they were together, the tension between the siblings is palpable.

In many ways, the proceeding conversation is a ‘circular dance’ as the sisters ‘size each other up’ – gauging how they truly think and feel about past events, and what they have said about ‘the event’ to others. While aspects of the ‘crime’ itself are addressed, these aren’t as important as the nuances of ‘blame’ for the turn of events, and why one sister is still in prison while the other is free…

Much can be read into the respective nightmares each sister has, but in the case of Kayleigh, it is the fate of her father that haunts her, who as a result of the accumulative events involving the family, took his own life. In contrast, it’s interesting to note Lyn’s circumspect attitude towards the subject of their father. While it’s explained that Kayleigh was always the ‘favourite’ and that father and youngest daughter were alike in temperament, one senses that Lyn’s ‘history’ with her father was very different and that it may as a consequence explain why Lyn reacted as she did to her mother’s boyfriend’s advances…

As for their mother Kathleen and her absconsion to England, she is talked about in less favourable terms and from what else is said her actions, could arguably be indirectly blamed for the many hardships the sisters endured while growing up. The anecdotes about what Lyn had to do to protect her sister at a young age are terrifying and Pulford’s performance is heartbreaking. While playing (on the surface) someone who is relatively unfazed by the past, Connery displays the inherent tension between the bravado of words and reticence in her body language.

Just like the crime itself, the play has layers within layers regarding the sisters’ motives and intentions. An audience’s attention to ‘the little things’ reveals the meaning behind what verbally is given short shrift. Also, conversations in the play reveal that Kayleigh doesn’t know Lyn as well as she thought. Could the same be said in reverse..?

Scissor Sisters ran for two days at Riverside Studios’ Bitesize Festival. If it runs elsewhere in the future, do try to see it.

© Michael Davis 2024

The London debut of Scissor Sisters ran at Riverside Studios’ Bitesize Festival on 16th and 18th July.