14 – 29 March
Three friends, three different encounters of sex all interwoven around one bold setting – the playground. Playfight doesn’t hold back in showing the dangerous situations young women face behind closed doors. From the very first scene writer Julia Grogan transports us into the complex world of teenage sexuality: where every nugget of intimacy is shared, every lewd detail exposed, a pressure to conform weighs heavily and with that, the normalisation of sexual violence.
The dialogue is sharp, witty and fervently delivered by the cast. Performances surrounding such a serious subject can be wearing on an audience, but Grogan delicately balances the moments of intense darkness with cutting humour. Lines bounce off each other giving the impression these girls have been finishing each other’s sentences for years. Grogan embraces the different personalities that school friendships often bring together before they are lost to job-seeking in other cities, and the draw of higher education. It allows us to follow three very different experiences of the journey into sexual awakening.
The minimal set design of a triumphant ladder in the playground, from designer Hazel Lowe, harks to both the naivety of the girls, and the inner games they must play to survive both developing friendships and new relationships. It also allows for the sole focus to be on the words and impeccable performances of the cast. The openness of Keira, (Sophie Cox ) clashes to perfect comic effect with the more conservative Lucy, (Lucy Mangan), buffered by Zainab, (Nina Cassells), and her battle with her own sexual orientation.
Grogan wrote Playfight in response to the shocking murder of Grace Millane, whose brutal murder was reframed as a “sex game gone wrong” by the perpetrator. Millane’s story became the poster image of how violence against women could be fetishised to the extent of seeming consensual. But more than that, at its core Playfight is a play about our relationship to sex, consent and how not even the strongest of friendships can withstand societal pressure to put male pleasure above all else.
Before the play at the Weston Studio, I watched a group of teenagers being ushered into see Romeo and Juliet. I truly hope that they all get the chance to see Playfight too – it’s essential watching for future generations.
★★★★☆ Beth Teverson, 21 March 2025
Photo credit: Paul Blakemore
