ajhlovestheatre

SHEWOLVES

by Sarah Middleton

directed by Hannah Stone

Southwark Playhouse Borough – until 8 July 2023

https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/shewolves/

Small really is beautiful sometimes. Several recent shows could have benefited from losing up to thirty minutes of running time without compromising their impact, so it’s refreshing to come across this fleet but mighty two hander with serious things on its mind while being possessed of a deft command of storytelling, irresistible humour and a commendable lightness of touch. Sarah Middleton’s Shewolves could actually be longer, and still be utterly captivating.

It’s a relatable, heartfelt but never cloying tale of friendship between two contrasting 14 year olds trying, initially in vastly different ways, to find their place in a world that is becoming ever more hostile, both in terms of the environment and the socio-economic infrastructure. Lou (Harriet Waters) idolises Greta Thunberg and looks set for a life of well-educated privilege, at least until she’s suspended from school for initiating a solo environmental protest. Meanwhile, irrepressible but vulnerable Priya (Gurjot Dhaliwal) uses social media as a means of validation as she tries to gain approval, or at least attention, from her absent dad and her newly affianced mother.

Middleton’s pithy, witty writing and the gutsy, caffeinated performances of these brilliant young actresses ensure that Shewolves never descends into cliché, even as it becomes possible to second guess where it’s heading and what’s going to come out of the mouths of its deeply lovable heroines. When Lou blithely refers to her new friend as “a lost cause”, it’s a funny, throwaway comment that has painful repercussions as Priya internalises the implicit dismissal and brings it up later in a moment of conflict. There’s a ring of authenticity to a scene where Lou (the kind of person whose early morning alarm is a posh voice repeating the words “Wake up! The world is still burning!”) delivers a lecture on imminent environmental disaster while Priya responds with an offer to take care of her monobrow.

Hannah Stone’s production has an exuberance and energy that befits its youthful characters but also gives full measure to their terrors and insecurities. The technical elements (Anna Reddyhoff – lighting, Eleanor Isherwood – sound and composition, Charlotte Henery – design) unobtrusively inform and support the text and performances while creating vivid visual and aural impressions. This is one of those allegedly simple productions that is actually way more complex than it looks.

Waters sometimes pushes a little too hard to convey Lou’s restless mixture of intense fervour and casual insensitivity, but she makes her inner conflicts vivid, moving and often very funny. Dhaliwal’s role is probably easier to negotiate – Priya goes from mouthy bravado to wearing her heart on her sleeve in an entirely credible journey – but she is an absolute knockout, expressing every beat and emotion with a devastating, open-faced honesty. They’re a fabulous team, impossible not to root for.

The title pertains to the name the young women give themselves when they go on the run from parental and scholastic authority, and their abandon and optimism is a joyous thing to witness. It’s also poignant because we guess that this verve and defiance is probably going to be short-lived, as adult responsibility inevitably overtake it.

Shewolves feels like the theatrical equivalent to really good Young Adult fiction, and that’s not a disrespect. It’s full of heart, fizz and truth. It’s sweet, spiky and smart. I loved it, even as I wished it went further and deeper. Still, very highly recommended.