An Oak Tree, Traverse, Edinburgh
Look deep into his eyes - and surrender
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.This is a piece about the power of suggestion, control and loss of control, and the form which the show takes teasingly reflects the story told. Crouch is playing a smalltime hypnotist who's mentally struggling after a car accident in which he killed a little girl on her way to a music lesson. The other player is the child's bereaved father who turns up at the hypnotist's show, unrecognised. He volunteers and falls so deeply under the hypnotist's spell that the latter thinks this guy is mucking him around and cruelly humiliates him. Then, when he agonisingly learns his victim's identity, he tries to heal the damage. The end is not without hope.
Some may find Crouch's aesthetic arid and the games with art and life contrived. But I would call this Pirandello for a modern audience and better. It's philosophy in action, playful and seriously thought-provoking. Emotionally, it is deliberately damped-down, but there's a slow burn. That you believe in and feel for the grieving father, while seeing the rehearsal-style workings, seems all the more amazing, touching and perhaps psychologically worrying.
To 28 August, 0131 228 1404
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments