Review: Scenes With Girls (Golden Goose Theatre)

There are some shows you go to see, and you have pretty much no clue what to expect from the title.  This one, not so much.  Scenes With Girls is literally a sequence of 22 scenes featuring the girls who make up the cast (with the additional cameo by a boy – Alec Osborne, who appears for a few moments). It’s an interesting way to get the “highlights” of this flat-share/friendship situation in front of people whilst skipping the mundane parts of human existence. In this production, from T. Regina Theatre Co., the scenes were broken up using a short period of blackout and sound effects whilst the set up was underway for the next. This was extremely effective and at times used amusingly too.

The scene was set at the Golden Goose Theatre; a flat, complete with bathroom. Is it weird to say I quite liked all the rugs scattered across the floor? They somehow made it homely.  The cluttered appearance of a young house-share was obvious the second you walk into the room, and two of the performers were setting the scene and establishing the sense of their friendship in a pre-show that was entertaining before the play even began.

I was invited to review this show and could only make it 29th April. This day was a scheduled performance for swing Emily Farley as Lou, one of the two main characters.  You wouldn’t know an understudy was on if the posters weren’t up stating this fact, her performance was faultless, with boundless energy throughout – including onstage exercises whilst talking, which were impressive enough to watch on their own! The fact that a swing can slot into such a weighty main character role alongside 2 other actors and the chemistry be so convincing is a real credit to both the skills of all of the performers, and the direction by Alex Stroming here.

As for the play, written by Miriam Battye, it’s more of a slice – or slices - of life than anything that is going to evoke serious discussion afterwards. Reminiscent of nineties sitcom Men Behaving Badly but with a gender switch, it’s about three young friends finding their way in the world, and their personal routes through the quagmire of friendships and relationships.  Lou (Emily Farley) and Tosh (Lyndsey Ruiz) share an intense, high-energy friendship as well as a flat.  Both are finding their way with regards to relationships, one theoretically by avoiding boys altogether and one more practically by having loads of casual sex… discussion of which made up some of the scenes towards the start of the show. The dynamic between the two is very intense, the acting so convincing I fully believed in their friendship. I have to also mention the short moments of song from Lyndsey Ruiz were incredible, what a voice!

Their friend Fran (Elinor Sumption) enters the fray quite a way in, but this introduces a new perspective and at a good time, when a change of pace was welcome.  There is some earlier discussion about Fran, implying she’s turned to the dark side by entering into a long-term relationship with a boy. Elinor Sumption plays Fran convincingly. You almost forget you are watching actors as all three of them portray their characters.

There’s a bit of everything here between the characters on stage and those that are only discussed – humour, jealousy, bitchiness, manipulation, love - pretty much everything you’d expect from a bunch of females working out how they fit into the world.  It’s a highly entertaining show. Funny, cringe-evoking at times maybe, and a well-crafted production all round.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scenes With Girls is showing at Golden Goose Theatre until Saturday 3 May.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.