Scratches

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SCRATCHES is a two-person show, starring GIRL (Aoife Kennan — who is also the writer) and BEST FRIEND (Zak Ghasti-Torbati). It’s a brutally honest yet brilliantly funny examination of self-harm. One would think this to be a tricky experience to get laughs out of, but these self-harm jokes were some of the hardest jokes I’ve laughed at in a while.

Oh the friendship! Zak and Aoife are friends in real life — this is explicitly mentioned towards the end of the show — and this is so obvious! I think it might be impossible to act as friends so close without being so. The two so naturally bounce off each other that it almost feels like two friends improvising — playing, even — as opposed to a written sketch show and it’s just so heartwarming to watch.

The show is part sketch show, part exploration of something serious and has a couple of songs, the absolute pinnacle of with is the Citalopram song (I really can’t over-emphasise how much I love this song). As someone who’s suffered mental health issues before this was super relatable, and this is a running theme throughout the show. I probably wouldn’t have had such a fun experience if I didn’t have some relatability with the subject issue so perhaps bear that in mind.

Zak’s character of BEST FRIEND was one of the most superb supporting performances I’ve seen off the West End. Wandering around the stage picking up new roles ad-hoc – being the mom or the dad or the doctor as and when it’s suitable. I really think without Zak’s involvement the show wouldn’t have had the energy to keep an audience engaged for the duration: This isn’t to knock on Aoife’s talent, just that for this show two people was definitely the way to go. Plus, arriving in your first costume wearing a cape is just plain fabulous!

Obviously, the show refers to severe and potentially triggering mental and physical health issues, but it only does so in a very responsible way, certain specific events are redacted that might have clashed with the show’s nicely balanced tone. There are also supportive mental health resources provided to the audience on arrival. With all that being said if you suspect that you’d be triggered by some of the issues in the show it might not be the one for you.

Overall, this show is just a brilliant and brutally honest insight into a young woman’s experience with mental health while being just completely hilarious. It was so high-energy I was constantly hoping it wasn’t about to end. I’ve got absolutely no reservations giving it 5 stars. It’s a SCRATCH you really should itch (my apologies for that awful pun).