There’s a new wave of female-led companies who are exploring theatrical form, how we live now, and, in particular, what it’s like to be a young woman today – and they are doing it with a raucous, joyful abandon. And sometimes a touch of sadness, too.
Leeds-based RashDash have already made a splash with shows including Ugly Sisters, while GetinthebackoftheVan’s Number 1, The Plaza is at Soho theatre this month. The Manchester-based Eggs Collective bring an adrenaline- and vomit-fuelled look at a big night out for three young women in identical teeny-weeny sparkly dresses and teetering pink heels.
It’s not sophisticated and the material is overstretched, but while it may look shambolic it’s craftily structured, whipping the audience up into a frenzy as the cast share cheap white plonk and stories of glorious and catastrophic nights out.
They make us recognise these tales of shame and triumph, or the moments that seemed like triumphs but were merely alcohol-hazed bravado. Within minutes of the show starting, the make-up masks are smeared. Is that lipstick or blood on these young women’s teeth?
There are anecdotes, karaoke, and some spot-on observational comedy about group dynamics, dancing and selfies. But most of all, there is a sense of women dancing less around their handbags than a fragile sense of self-esteem, of Amazons who trip and tumble and are floored by the withdrawal of female friendship or kept upright with its support.
Is it a sign of a good night out when a friend gently holds back your hair as you throw up into the toilet bowl? There is no moralising, just youthful high spirits mixed with lethal honesty. Get a Round may be raw in more ways than one, but it definitely qualifies as a good night.
