When her grandmother died, Kelly was drowning. Her dead end job at Asdas, in between the annoying-colleague-who-needs-to-get-a-life aisle and the horrible-neighbours-who-spend-their-life-gossiping-section, Kelly is hiding from the snot-filled monster in a dress, who happens to be the one, who safes her. And she him.

Kelly Jones' Drowned Girl, directed by Anna Poole just finished it's run in Chapter and I went with three fellow TEAM members as part of TEAM's critical chinwag. An hour long monologue accompanied by simple lighting and sounds. Cornflakes on stage and a mermaid costume. Kelly Jones on stage, performing her own work and with her only a technician and his desk.

I'm a fan of theatre that is as simplistic as possible. Kelly and Anna manage to tell the story of a grieving girl and her struggles by using few lights, sounds and very little props, nevertheless, or maybe because of this, I was with Kelly at all times. I was hiding in the aisles, I was on the train and at the beach, I was in the manager's office, disappointed, sad, annoyed. This has to be thanks to Kelly Jones' writing and Anna Poole's directing.

Although at times missing variations of levels and a technician, whose presence on stage I don't think was justified, I fully enjoyed this story, to which many of us can relate. Not just because it was well crafted and it's themes are about everyone, who loves someone, but also because it gives me hope. Stuck in a dead end job, the weight of a whole community on her shoulders, people looking at her instead of lending a helping hand, and now on stage, telling this story. There is a way for young theatre makers, even though it might not look like it at times.  

I have to say that there are of course a few things, I would have done differently but of course there always are but all in all I have to say that I enjoyed The Drowned Girl more than any high-tech, 100 000 Pound show I have recently seen. I believe we need more theatre like this. Theatre that quietly tells a story, a story that is also about me, that doesn't need much more than just itself. This is the kind of theatre that accompanies me for a while, and what more can you ask of theatre?