Review: INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON, Southwark Playhouse

Photo credit: Mark Senior

A dark-humoured and vivid tale of girlhood and grief, Rosie Day’s Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon carves a path through territory all-too-unexplored in the theatre, giving the rebellious teen a chance at nuanced representation on stage.

Its ambitious rewrite of the sulky teenager trope, however, is slightly hindered by the constraints of its fringe conventions, narrative distractions, and technical additions which detract from the thrust of the piece. 

The goal is an ambitious one from the Teenage Armageddon Collective,  comprised of Rosie Day (Writer & Performer), Georgie Staight (Director),  Zoe Weldon (Producer), and Katy Galloway (Producer). Taking place over the course of three years, the narrative follows Eileen (Day) from the age of 13, the time of her sister Olive’s death from long-term anorexia,  through to her reaching the age of 16. Day’s narrative explores eating disorders, body image, divorce, teenage angst and friendships, sexual assault, and touches on a whole host of other issues. Unfortunately,  while it may begin these conversations, it rarely finishes them and in the process, distracts the audience’s attention from the emotional crux of a grieving teenager finding her place in a harsh world. 

As a piece, it feels like the epitome of fringe theatre in all of its  glory (and shortcomings) as the audience is guided through the play by  Eileen’s self-narration, interspersed with breaks in the drama by shifts variably in Sam Glossop’s sound design, Holly Ellis’ lighting, a cameo voiceover appearance by Maxine Peake, or projections by video designer Dan Light. Cara Evans’ set design provides an in-between space for the  play’s disparate settings that reminds us of the play’s central hooks, especially Eileen’s passion for the Scouts through its wood-chip flooring. 

These video appearances by wider cast members Molly Ashby, Amanda Abbington, Philip Glenister, Isabella Pappas, and Jessica Ellerby provide somewhat of a welcome reprieve as they take up the roles of Eileen’s family members and friends. When these projections are used, and where we instead have a ‘not-quite multi-rolling’ approach from Day, however, at  times leaves us questioning why one is used and the other is not, and vice versa. 

This is an ambitious piece that provides a valuable perspective on a whole range of issues from Day and the Teenage Armageddon Collective.  While it leaves us a little dazed by the range of its exploration, its wit and charm is to be found in the dark-humour, candour, and truth with which it approaches ‘taboo’ subjects, demonstrating flashes of excellence and connection at moments throughout. 

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Kane Taylor

Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon plays at Southwark Playhouse until 5 March, with tickets available here.