A rhythmic and psychological audio experience in which Mitchell plays with artistic control' WhatsOnStage

In Little Scratch Rebecca Watson captures the disarray of human consciousness as a woman goes through the course of a day. Despite being initially unsure about the experimental format, I didn’t find it hard work at all. My brain loved the parallel thoughts and the agency this gave me as a reader. Whilst others have disagreed, I found the protagonist’s often self-conscious inner narrative believable and relatable. Experimentation aside – and it is not to everyone’s taste – Little Scratch is an extremely perceptive depiction of power and agency: in the modern workplace, where age-old and patriarchal hierarchies persist; in the modern world, where communication is truncated even when we have too much to say; and in the modern novel, where a character must find a way to name her own experience, even if only to herself. The text seems to be partly autobiographical. Like the narrator, Watson has worked at various roles in her life (as an assistant, waitress, cleaner) where she was at the bottom of the power chain: “I have been screamed at, groped, and patronised in various junior jobs. What has always been clear is that while some enjoy the power, others seem to genuinely believe that the divide in front of them is dictated by God, that hierarchy has a moral, qualitative value.” ( Source) Besides hilarious passages right from ordinary live we also get to see how whatsapp forms the main platform for the main character to fret over her relationship with her Him.

October 2013

and being confused at how still it (my face) was, how it wasn’t moving when in my head things were so loud, rising furious right out and yet I did not move, did not seem to feel or wince or, look at that face! look at that frozen face (I used to think), prod at it as if it wasn’t mine Among the administrative tasks, cost centre codes and cups of tea are conscious constants: the memory of her rape, the urge to self-harm, and the comfort of – and desire for – her boyfriend, “my him”. She rehearses telling him about her trauma but fears it would engulf their relationship. Her creativity, too, has been silenced as she cannot continue writing her novel, bringing underlying sadness to the bursts of witty wordplay in her thoughts. Rebecca Watson’s novel works magnificently on stage. Miriam Battye and Katie Mitchell have turned 24 hours inside a frenzied mind into something like a piece of music’ Evening Standard little scratch is a little miracle… impossible to read it and not wish there were more books like it.’ Alan Trotter What came across strongly about Watson’s book specifically, is that half of every discussion is focused on the layout, and form of the writing, and the second part focuses on the content. This is true of most on line interviews too.

Blisteringly honest and unflinchingly intimate, little scratch is extraordinary – and indispensable’ The I Bias is too adhesive for denial to do much. But the assumption and the expectation can be unpleasant. During one live radio interview, it increasingly became clear that the presenter wanted me to say that the protagonist’s trauma was my own. They would ask a question and not get the response they wanted, only to try another way. The novel began in a real incident when the author was asked at work what she was reading and her mind went blank (an experience that resonates), which she turned first into a story, which was shortlisted for The White Review Short-Story Prize, and then into this novel:An image! not my spoon! not my phone! (although I can see that too, an emoji of a pig, which distracts me for a second but oh no I am not letting this go, yes an image, a book T he story works on several levels and, within a minute, can draw both wry humour and gnawing horror from office life, and find weary familiarity and startling surprise in everyday routines.' Words are sent rippling up and down the line of actors, overlapping, chiming or bringing chilled silence.'