Featuring an all-female creative team and cast, the play follows three teenage girls navigating adolescence, sexuality, identity, and consent and tackles the blurred lines between desire and violence. It is a raw, funny and unflinching portrayal of young women in a world where sex and violence often intersect. With the news of increasing calls for stricter regulation of pornographic content and recent headlines about violence against women, Playfight serves as a timely reflection on the urgent need for these discussions.
Darkly hilarious, or maybe hilariously dark; Julia Grogan’s Playfight is many things, but it is never boring. Or predictable. This three-woman production charts the turbulent comings of age of Zainab, Keira, and Lucy in an unspecified English town; overlooked by an ancient tree. While some narrative beats feel familiar, each short scene is punctuated by a wry, dark humour that feels utterly unique.
Raw, honest and funny, Playfight captures pieces of the female and youth experiences without entirely making them whole. In between the humour, there are gaps of unspeakable depth that can only be felt, and never made sense of.
The conclusion shocks, even as it feels tragically inevitable. Old wounds scar over, only to have a stake driven through them. But by the end, nothing is exorcised. We’re left with lingering questions long after curtain call.
Credit: By Joe Howsin
