KNOT HEART - Almeida Theatre

Lisa DillonPhoto: Keith Pattisonalready stayed the maximum length of time, and that someoneelse has taken her bed.Barbara encourages Lucy to come home, saying that she hasbought new, more grown-up bedding for Lucy’s bedroom; welearn that Barbara hasn’t driven but has come in a cab whichmakes Lucy suspicious. Barbara confesses to feeling like a badmother and Marina recommends some family support groups.Barbara dismisses this but says that she has arranged for amasseur and a craniosacral therapist and booked a weekendhealth spa for them both, with Angela. Lucy asks her motherfor absolute honesty and Barbara confirms that there are nosecrets between them. Lucy says to Marina that her stay inthe Crisis Intervention Centre feels like a lifetime – rather thanthe three weeks it actually was. Marina says that Lucy shouldbe proud of what she has achieved: she hopes Lucy does nothave to return.Scene 9Lucy is speaking to Dr Harris, a consultant psychiatrist, in theDrug Treatment Centre at the Whittington Hospital: this is herannual review. Dr Harris has a thick folder containing Lucy’snotes and makes notes through their discussion. Lucy is atfirst reluctant to speak to him as he is not her usual doctor, ashe is away. We learn that Lucy is taking methadone, livingwith her mother and smoking cigarettes, although she hasn’tinjected for about 18 months. About one a month she smokessome heroin, which her mother buys for her and gets bymeeting her dealer in a café on Upper Street. We learn thatLucy has had Hepatitis C and just finished a six-month courseof Interferon and is waiting for a final blood test to confirmthat the disease has gone.Plot SummaryI am tired of this life. I amtired of getting clean, lapsing,getting clean, relapsing,getting clean and relapsing. Iam on the road. And I am notgoing back. I am never goingback. I want to detoxcompletely.LucyScene 9Lucy is very hostile towards the doctor, often being very rude.She wants to stop the methadone and get back to work, asshe is bored of her life and wants to be a normal personagain. She insists that she wants to be clean of all dugs by thetime she is thirty next year. Lucy last had a relapse six monthsago and Dr Harris advises her to take things slowly and buildon the stability she has found – it is too early to attempt atotal detox. Dr Harris asks Lucy why she is so angry andreveals that she has also been self-harming. We learn thatLucy has been suffering from depression for a long while. Lucysays that her mother is convinced that human touch can healLucy. Since Barbara sacked her masseur, who had been givingLucy cannabis, she has been massaging Lucy’s feet,something Lucy hates. Lucy says she imagines her mothereating her, starting with her feet, as a way of taking her backinto her stomach. Lucy is sure that the drugs, including themethadone, are doing this and if she was completely cleanshe could get rid of these thoughts. Lucy says she hasdecided to stop everything and Dr Harris says that he cannotadvise such a risky course of action.Resource Pack: The Knot of the Heart12