Rated 🍯🍯🍯
Shewolves at Greenwich Theatre (now on tour around the UK -- please visit Shewolves Productions' official site for dates and venues) makes for a fun evening of light-hearted humour and amusement.
An unlikely friendship between two teenage girls who are, in the beginning, nothing short of exasperated by one another. A grand plan to run away from home, because after all, what is a better solution to the trifling, pesky little problems (that, to the schoolgirls themselves, are catastrophically apocalyptic to their peaceful existence, but to most adults, a laughing matter) that schoolgirls face?
Priya is the rebellious one. Plagued by a troubled home life, she uses sarcasm and jokes to deflect uncomfortable conversations and cope. Lou is the nerdy one, obsessed with perfect grades, climate change and making her mum proud, and, who — surprise, surprise — has no friends.
They decide to escape to the countryside, where they hope to find some peace and freedom from the evil forces looking to upend their lives. The childish naivety is absolutely refreshing, and hilarious — the girls’ inability to see their problems in perspective, the bold fearlessness associated with running off with not much in their backpacks other than Pop Tarts, and the relentless optimism that they can make it in the wild. The sense of possibility exuded by these girls was touching.
This is a coming-of-age story in which the two girls, both adorably well-behaved kids by modern teenager standards, deal with their issues and develop a friendship. They discover new things about themselves and each other. They grow as characters and as people.
The bee hears it has become cool these days for teenagers to be clever, nerdy, abstaining from vices and treating everyone and everything with respect. Priya and Lou epitomise the present-day trope. Far from the moody, glued-to-their-screen, selfish brat cliché that was the dominant teenager profile for the last two decades or so, Priya and Lou are kind, tolerant, enjoy nature and the outdoors, value their education and are conscious about social injustice. This was quite educational for your faithful bee.
The play is well-written and well-acted. It has a lot of humour and emotion. It kept my attention throughout. It's not a deep or profound play, but it's not meant to be. It's a simple and honest story about teenage girls, teenage problems, and teenage dreams. It's relatable and enjoyable.
Three stars.
Watched April 2023 at the Greenwich Theatre, London. Please visit Shewolves Productions' official site for UK tour dates and venues.