David Cameron did not just leave us the gift of Brexit before fleeing his premiership. There is also the toxic legacy of his “age of austerity” policies. Here is an excoriating production that examines what austerity meant for those targeted by it. They include some of the most vulnerable members of society – people who were abused, destitute, disabled, mentally ill and jobless (what was it that Pearl Buck said about the test of a civilisation?).
The show is based on the lives of people who were denied welfare benefits and died. Directed by Sacha Wares, it is an installation that combines promenade theatre with holograms. Wearing a VR headset, you enter a room where eight static figures emerge (played by actors). They lie on gurneys, bare mattresses, park benches, pavements and soiled duvets, and make for a woeful army of “invisibles” who have, for this time, come into our line of vision. We hear their stories, told by relatives (interviews co-edited by Wares and special advisor John Pring) and the accounts bring tears to your eyes.
Cheated … Museum of Austerity at the Young Vic, London. Photograph: Ellie Kurttz
So often their disabilities are doubted and they are deemed fit to work. Moira Drury, who was attacked by an abusive partner and left with life-changing injuries, died after a seven-month delay in processing her benefits. Mark Wood, a young man with an eating disorder who couldn’t navigate the world, was found dead in his home. David Clapson died after running out of food and electricity. Philippa Day, a mother with depression, agoraphobia and borderline personality disorder, was found overdosed in her bed with her Department for Work and Pensions letter beside her. The accounts are intimate witness statements, overlaid with the pontificating voices of Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and other MPs (sound design by Gareth Fry). It is heart-breaking stuff.
Museum of Austerity was first staged two years ago. It should seem historic to us now in the era of a Labour government. But how much of this systemic punching-down has been reversed? A timeline of events shows rising suicide rates linked to government measures to curb benefits, right up to April 2024, when a UN expert found that the UK has made no significant progress in the seven years since it was found guilty of grave violations of the rights of disabled people. The current government, and its pledges to cut benefits, is left horribly implicated.
The problem, as is so often the case with productions about social justice, is to do with reach. The Young Vic’s Maria theatre feels like a back-room space. This material should be front and centre so that those who still talk about “benefits cheats” are forced to encounter it.
The VR experience is programmed to stop after just over half an hour. This is not enough time to listen to every testimony in full, which brings a sense of urgency. The room stands empty again afterwards but you have heard what was done to these cheated figures. What now?
