Some Women Review - Anne Marie Duff is totally believable, but the drama isn't complicated

Dorfman Theatre, London The story shifts away and some underdeveloped characters undermine the powerful messages about prejudice in Helen Edmondson's play. Opposing forces collide in this new drama, as Anne Marie Duff is magnificent amid the implausible designs of playwright Helen Edmondson. The result is an unsuccessful suspension of disbelief, yet a compelling central performance. Duff as Julie, the mother

Opposing forces clash in this new drama as Anne-Marie Duff is magnificent amid playwright Helen Edmondson's implausible plot. The result is an unsuccessful suspension of disbelief, yet a compelling central performance.

Duff plays Julie, a mother, ex-wife, and working woman whose busy life is turned upside down by an incident at a subway station where an 11-year-old boy accidentally and violently insults her. He logically challenges him, and in a series of implausible stories, he faces a legal battle and possible jail time.

As the story of an ordinary middle-aged woman who is beaten by the patriarchal forces around her, this play is full of important issues. We hear stories of occasional sexual harassment that are laughed off by those around Jolie. Now we see that her life is almost destroyed by the son's claim.

CCTV footage is mentioned and you wonder if a teen-style video is about to be released. But the conspiracy makes it clear that there is no irrefutable evidence against him, yet he loses everything.

The points about everyday misogyny are made loud and clear, especially that the legal system is rigged to distrust women and believe men (or an 11-year-old boy in this instance). The recently adapted West End drama Prima Facie showed us this in relation to sexual violence against women. But this is not a courtroom drama, and the alleged crimes it deals with are simply not believable.

Directed and seamlessly staged by Blanche McIntyre, there could be potential brilliance here if only the plot had been better crafted and so many off-topic themes weren't thrown at us - from one girl's (Grace Doherty) eating disorder to Julie's difficult relationship with another (Hannah Onslow), both of which are barely explored, as well as Julie's divorce experience. Each of these themes is, in short, with the characters around Julie too weak to feel real.

Leaving the script's structural inadequacies aside, there are plenty of heart-wrenching scenes. They culminate in a confrontation between Julie and the boy's father (Steven White). Again, this plot twist pushes the boundaries of believability, but this time you can brush it off because the forces of menace, anger and fear feel terrifyingly and sadly real.

Julie seems driven to victimization, but she rejects this helplessness in a society where toxic masculinity is horribly on display: men openly express their hatred of women, boys spitting obscenities at female strangers. The truth is all that Jolie stands for and stands for, regardless of the legal ramifications. She is not only a victim of misogyny, but an everyday female hero. This message has its own power, however bad the plot.