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Brief awakenings: White Rose The Musical @MaryleboneTHLDN

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A fascinating and daring act of defiance in Nazi Germany by a group of university students in Munich is given a slightly perplexing rock musical treatment in White Rose, the musical. Something seems amiss in this earnest and occasionally tuneful show. It lags more than it inspires, which is surprising given the tragic and compelling history of the real-life characters the show depicts. Given that young people are increasingly likely to vote for far-right parties across Europe, it’s an opportunity to look at a time when they had a different perspective on the future. Perhaps something has been lost in the translation or the larger space of the Marylebone Theatre where it plays.  The White Rose were a group of university students in Munich who sought to undermine the Third Reich through publication of a series of pamphlets urging passive resistance to the Nazi regime. Over a brief period between June 1942 and February 1943, they distributed their pamphlets across campus using ...

Let's talk about stuff: Clickbait @theatre503


Clickbait is a comic new play about society’s attitude to porn and the women who make it for themselves. But it is hard to know exactly what to make of it.

There is enough material for several plays here; attitudes to pornography, how to set up a sex empire, concepts of consensual sex. They are all explored, but all too briefly to make much sense.

The play follows Nicola (played by Georgia Groome) who, threatened with the release of an amateur sex video, makes a snap decision to post it online herself.



But soon she is fielding unrelenting media interest and setting up her own sex empire with her two sisters as if it were as easy as setting up a theatre blog.

It all feels a little superficial. The youngest teenage sister (played by the amusing Alice Hewkin) also gets the raw deal in having to explain vast chunks of social media-speak to the audience.

The silliness builds as Nicola becomes a powerful porn magnate who wears polyester pyjamas and bunny slippers. It only redeems itself in the final moments when it grounds it back to origins of the revenge porn.

It is a pity as there is an interesting story among it all. There are some interesting ideas about responding to revenge porn, social media trolls (depicted by the actors with masks) and what it is to be sexually empowered. But none of them are considered long enough to support the show.

And while the title is catchy, it is a little confusing. Clickbait is those links to stories such as "how to retire at 55" or "what you should do for thinning hair". It isn't really about sex or revenge porn. But then again, I wasn't sure the play was either...

Clickbait by Milly Thomas runs at Theatre503 until 13 February.

⭐︎⭐︎

Photos: Production images by Oliver King

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