3 STARS ***
“Normal people should be eviscerated.”
The New Theatre’s production of Simon Stephens’ take on adolescent life is simultaneously humorous and shocking. Interspersed with music from the likes of The White Stripes, the play explores the tumultuous nature of student life at a high-achieving school pre A-level exams.
With stress levels high, the play begins with the arrival of ‘the new girl’, Lilly, who is quickly taken under the wing of eccentric William. With the rest of the students introduced, we begin to identify archetypes (some more clearly defined than others) – the bully, the victim, the girlfriend, the good guy, the teacher’s pet – and find elements in them we have observed in our own experiences, or even ourselves.
The play explores themes such as academic pressure, unreturned love, rivalry and identity. None of these students are deprived, yet we observe their internal battles, combined with discussion of bigger themes: the end of the world, death, and the way we think, a highlight being an impassioned speech from the victimised Chadwick Meade. With well-timed humour and slick transitions, the actors immersed themselves into their roles.
Among all this, we are incredibly conscious of brewing danger in their tiny bubble of angst. With students complaining about the oppressive heating in an all too familiar throwback to the ill-timed temperature regulation of our school days, combined with the oppressive single room they occupy their free time in, tensions rise.
However, the play is arguably predictable- in an all too familiar ‘Lord of the Flies’-esque manner, we can see which characters are heading towards their downfall. The final scene also had no real purpose- a baby talk explanation of the aftermath, revealing nothing than couldn’t be imagined by the audience.
However, at the crux of the play, audience members sat covering their eyes. Thanks to strong performances all round, the tension is relentless – even though we may have guessed the conclusion.
Image source:
http://newtheatre.org.uk/whats-on/
Edited by Harriet Dunlea