Review: PLAYFIGHT, Soho Theatre

Photo credit: Paul Blakemore

Three friends grow up under an ancient tree. Ten years pass as we follow their journey into womanhood and the challenges it brings.

Julia Grogan’s debut play was a smash hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and now this vital story about friendship, adolescence, and the pressures of hyper-sexualisation is sure to delight and shock audiences at the Soho Theatre. Grogan was inspired to write Playfight after hearing about a high-profile murder case where the defence was a ‘sex game gone wrong.’ This passion and feeling of anger and injustice is clear from the start, as brash Keira relays her experience of losing her virginity on a tennis court and the consequences that follow. Grogan’s writing is both hilarious and heartbreaking. She covers a plethora of topics in just seventy minutes but ensures the complex issues of female sexual identity and a rising landscape of violence are afforded due care and attention.

Emma Callander’s lively direction and Hazel Low’s simple design, with the central oak ‘tree’ taking the form of a hot pink ladder, match the quick witted, youthful energy and urgency to this story. The action is accompanied by haunting singing designed by Roly Botha that brings an undertone of sadness to this evocative piece.

Playfight is a funny, engaging, and gritty portrayal of the youthful desire and need for love, wonderfully told by the trio of Nina Cassells, Sophie Cox, and Lucy Mangan. The cast reprise their roles from Edinburgh and deliver outstanding, honest, and nuanced performances. Nina Cassells is thoughtful and sceptical as she navigates her identity as a lesbian and developing feelings for her friend. This friend is Lucy, played by Lucy Mangan, whose dry and ditzy nature distract from her secretiveness. Lucy’s relationship with Christianity and her boyfriend contrast with the outspoken Keira who instead of attending sixth form, begins selling pictures of her feet on the internet. Sophie Cox’s performance as Keira delivers much of the comedy which is essential to this relatable but otherwise heavy story.

The show takes place around the base of a tree and while we can see the grounding nature that this brings to a story that follows the passage of time, as the play progresses, the references to the tree do become slightly repetitive. The climax of Playfight is gut-wrenching but before this twist is revealed, there is an almost dream-like sequence that is initially confusing and interrupts the otherwise naturalistic tale.

Playfight is brilliantly written and acted, and this compelling story of female friendship is sure to make you think and reflect on the pains of youth.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Sophie Luck

Playfight runs at London’s Soho Theatre until 26 April, with further info here.