★★★★

“Bursting with energy and joy, thoughtfully crafted and very funny” – A Youngish Perspective

In Alfie’s fantasy world, it’s hard to tell who he is – rockstar, guru, actor, shark. Which version of him is showing up today?

Renowned autistic artists Cian Binchy (‘The Level’ ITV) and Anna Constable (‘Imposter 22′, Royal Court) bend the lines of fantasy, reality and masking, as they try to figure out how to be in the world. In a darkly comic universe, with shark chases, a rap about Devon, and some lovely cardboard cut-outs, they ask:

When the person you show to the world is just a mask, what’s underneath?

Co-produced by award winning company Access All Areas and The Lowry, and created by Cian Binchy in collaboration with Nick Llewellyn (‘Madhouse’, ‘The Interrogation’) and writers Shaun Dunne (‘How to Tell a Secret’ Netflix) and Leah Moore (‘Good Omens’ Amazon Prime).

A small enclosed room with a shark. What could go wrong?

Nick Llewellyn /Cian Binchy Feature – A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy 

Byline Liam Rudden Media  

‘When the person you show to the world is just a mask, what’s underneath?’ Artistic Director and co-CEO of Access All Areas (AAA), Nick Llewellyn, has just been asked to sum up his latest collaboration with award-winning actor and writer, Cian Binchy. 

The production in question is A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy, in which a rockstar turned guru and a blue shark are just two of the surreal characters awaiting audiences. 

The darkly comic play by the renowned autistic artist who best known as Tate Le Saux in the ITV crime drama, The Level, explores masking autism, mental health and fantasy, as it leads audiences through the many worlds of Binchy’s imagination. 

Having received its world premiere earlier this year at The Lowry, Salford, the piece, which is the culmination of Binchy and Llewellyn’s 11 year working relationship and made in collaboration with Shaun Dunne and Leah Moore, is now embarking on its first tour. Which brings us back to its director’s summation of the show; if the person we show the world is indeed just a mask, what’s really underneath, an authentic self or just a series of stories we tell to protect ourselves? 

“We have been collaborating since 2014 when Cian graduated from the Performance Making diploma AAA run’s at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, for emerging learning disabled and autistic artists. In 2015 we toured a show called The Misfit Analysis around the UK to critical acclaim and we felt that A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy was unique and another important story to tell.”  

So who is Alfie Murphy? Binchy explains, “Alfie is a musician, not the lead singer, but the main songwriter in a band, who feels like the lead singer gets all the glory and is trying to steal his limelight. He is a man looking for something missing in his life, he just can’t work out what it is.” 

It’s a character he says is “loosely based” on himself but also “inspired” by the environment in which he lives and the people around him.  

Llewellyn elaborates, “Cian developed this character, the lyricist in a band that hit the big time but lost it all and became a self made guru in India, finding meaning through song lyrics. But then, he loses that identity too. Having briefly explored his fantasy world with him in The Misfit Analysis, we wanted to dig deeper into those themes of autistic fantasy and of masking.” 

Binchy, who won The VAULT Festival People’s Choice Award and A Wellcome Trust People’s Award for The Misfit Analysis, adds, “I’ve been working on Alfie since 2018, it started off about a yoga teacher who had a hot temper, but in the process of writing, the character evolved into somebody who has anger issues but pretends to be all, ‘calm, peace and love’, which kind of coincides with the theme of fantasy.  

He continues, “Society is full of contradictions about what is real and what is not. We say, ‘That’s life…’ and ‘That’s the reality…’ but how real is the real world? How can we tell what’s real and what’s not? I wanted to make this show because over the years I have learned so many things I want to share, mainly that no matter where you go, you’ll always be you. You can never escape yourself.” 

“Cian is an incredible poet and produced many of the poems that feature in the show, are used for lyrics in the songs, or have been the inspiration for the title,” says Llewellyn, adding, “He has a very comedic improvisational presence and we’re looking forward to audiences experiencing what might happen on any night. He is also joined on stage by Anna Constable – the pair have a powerful energy together. 

“Audiences found the original run of A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murray ‘very funny’ and many neurodivergent people were happy to experience the joy of a show that didn’t give simplified answers to their lived experiences. They genuinely enjoyed the playful way Cian riffs with them.” 

Consequently, Llewellyn is pleased to be taking it out on tour, “We are excited for Cian to showcase his storytelling. We learned a lot at The Lowry and have had fun redeveloping the show; we’ve cut down parts of the script to bring more focus to the comedy, and we’re in the process of making a brand new set.”   

The tour, which visits London’s Soho Theatre, The Mercury Theatre, Colchester, The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead, Chester’s Storyhouse, The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield, The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham and OneFest in Mansfield, is a sign that inclusive theatre is becoming more commercially acceptable, believes Llewellyn, “Over the years, AAA has seen a willingness and an excitement from venues to programme this work. The unconscious biases have been challenged and venues genuinely see the artistic value to the work.”  

Llewellyn, who has been a champion for learning disabled artists for more than 20 years, continues, “I hope that people are excited by this show, and that they bring their friends along because it is a fun night out. Cian still makes me laugh in rehearsals and I am looking forward to Cian and Anna finding slightly new things each time they perform A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy so that it remains fresh and engaging. I hope that learning disabled people see their own lives represented in the show and that everyone has a bloody good night out.”  

And as for that incongruous blue shark? Well, Binchy reveals, “Sharks play a very, very important part in the show. Sharks symbolise the people who are out to trap you in life and stop your game, stopping your fantasy and leaving you trapped in the corner, told not to move… It’s like if you’ve ever been naughty in school and the teacher has said: ‘Go stand in the corner.’ That’s when they stop your game, and leave you feeling like you are stuck in the middle of the ocean surrounded by sharks – well, that’s how I feel, personally and A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy is a story very personal to myself.”