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More sex and violence: Playfight @sohotheatre

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The funny thing about three girls growing up under a tree is that you never quite know when they're being serious or just messing about. One time, they might be talking about giving blow jobs on a tennis court at school and another, they might be yearning for a connection that they can't quite explain. That's what happens in Playfight, an Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024 hit currently showing at Soho Theatre .  Writer Julia Grogan doesn't give us much time to dwell on the lives of these three young teenage girls. One minute, they're fifteen and giggling, and then the next thing, they're off getting married or going to University. But underneath all the smutty talk, humour, and quick scene changes, there is a darker underbelly about relationships, power, and consent. It's about finding your way in a complex world that can dehumanise and degrade you. But as things move so quickly, you could blink and miss it. This is too bad as the performances capturing this co...

Grudge match: The Wasp @JSTheatre


Just how long can you hold a grudge? Well it probably depends on what exactly went down at school. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's The Wasp is back in the West End. It last appeared in 2015 at Hampstead Theatre and then transfered to Trafalgar Studios.

Two years on, it's at the Jermyn Street Theatre and just as chilling and just as spooky. Although perhaps having seen it all before, you see more of the mechanics behind the story that evolves over cups of tea. 

The story is about Carla and Heather. They were once schoolmates but drifted apart due to their different backgrounds. And one or two horrible incidents. Heather has become a successful businesswoman. She drinks lattes and has nice clothes. Carla is probably just about managing - pregnant and in a track suit - and prefers builders tea. The scene is set for what you think will be a class struggle and then Heather asks Carla if she would help her kill her husband.


To give anything further away would spoil the fun. But as the piece unfolds you find yourself shifting your sympathies. This time around the actors bring a darker interpretation to the two roles. This heightens the fear factor, even if it is hard to empathise with either of them.

Lisa Gorgin as Carla strikes you as the sort of character you wouldn't want to encounter in the school toilets. Selina Giles as Heather is icy cold. This sets the scene for the shocks to come. 

Director Anna Simpson maintains the tension even if things become a little too obvious in the second half.  It feels as if could make the transition from stage to screen. Big or small. Which might help cut down some of the superfluous dialogue. 

But in the meantime it's at Jermyn Street Theatre until 12 August.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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