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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...

Lost and found: Stone Face @Finborough

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Stone Face by Eve Leigh, tackles the subject of abuse and recovery in a sensitive and humorous way. It is currently playing at the Finborough Theatre . With its gentle storytelling, it draws you into the story and allows the performers to shine. Inspired by true events, the story revolves around Catherine. Found after her mother killed herself, nobody is sure if she ever left the one bedroom flat they shared. She can neither walk nor speak. It starts with her receiving medical care thanks to a tabloid newspaper campaign that manages to finance it. Catherine's half sister Ali, her doctor and a tabloid journalist are the only people in her life. Over the course of roughly ninety minutes we are drawn into a world of lost children, mental health and isolation.

Mother knows best: Merit @Finborough

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I have a sister so I have witnessed a few mother-daughter conversations over the years. But pehaps none are as odd as those presented here in Merit by Alexandra Wood. It is currently playing at the Finborough Theatre . It's a two hander that explores the growing apart between a mother and daughter. And the growing gulf between the rich and poor. But you are never sure whether the global financial crisis, inequality or just good old fashioned mother-daughter rivalry is what is at play here. It is ambiguous but it is also a compelling study of a parent who wishes her daughter every success. But she'll also be there to take her daughter down a peg or two if she gets too successful...