Synopsis

A small office in New York City. Anne sits nervously as Jennifer and Andrew listen intently to her disturbing story of domestic abuse

Anne, a troubled young woman, seeks help from Jennifer and Andrew, a pair of ambitious film producers. She recounts how her husband Simon silences her with tape and forces her to listen to his strange monologues about parking lots and trees. As Anne’s story unfolds, Jennifer and Andrew become increasingly invested, seeing its potential as their next big project. They introduce Clifford, an aging playwright, to adapt Anne’s experiences.

However, as the producers and writers attempt to shape Anne’s story into marketable entertainment, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur. Anne’s identity starts to fragment under the pressure of their “treatment,” while the characters’ motivations grow increasingly murky. The play explores themes of exploitation, the commodification of trauma, and the ethics of storytelling.

Crimp’s sharp dialogue crackles with dark humour as he satirises the entertainment industry’s hunger for “authentic” stories and its willingness to manipulate reality for profit. Through a series of increasingly surreal scenes, The Treatment asks: In a world obsessed with narratives, what is the cost of turning real suffering into consumable art?