PLAYFIGHT at Soho Theatre

Photograph: Mihaela Bodlovic

Julia Grogen’s Playfight was one of the shows I had been meaning to catch whilst at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 – but amongst so much choice and packed schedules I didn’t quite make it. I was delighted with the chance to see this production on its transfer to London.

The piece follows three teenagers – Keira (Sophie Cox), Zainab (Nina Cassells) and Lucy (Lucy Mangan)- who could not be more unlikely friends, gravitating to the same Oak tree near their school. These three cover a spectrum – from Keira wanting to be older than her years, to Zainab who understands her identity but struggles to be accepted, to Lucy who is afraid to express herself within her religious background.

The timeline of this piece spans across 10 years, and it perfectly encapsulates how long those High School years can feel, to suddenly finding yourself as an adult with so many decisions, and the pressure to feel like you must grow up whilst also staying true to yourself. As Keira says, “the more we grow the more I feel like I’m shrinking”.

I found the writing of these conversations so natural – I didn’t feel this was trying to ‘write younger’. Woven effortlessly were the sorts of conversations we all had at this age – a bit naïve, confused, and completely trivial at times. I recognised a familiar youth in this piece – even down to the costume design and the school uniform trends that just cannot be forgotten.

I found this piece incredibly authentic in its humour – and it does open as an inherently funny piece. In amongst the humour there were strong themes that were artfully explored – sexuality, consent, identify and belief. We see their approach to these topics mature with the friends through the piece. For example, at the beginning of the piece we hear overconfident Keira reel off her exploits of fake IDs, drinking and having sexual encounters in a tennis court of all places. We leave the piece with these three women in completely different circumstances.

The stage was simply set but beautifully minimalistic. The painted red ladder burrowed into playground wood chips, represented a centrepiece of these characters’ lives – an Oak lovingly called ‘Tree’. ‘Tree’ serves as an anchor for many themes running through this piece – hope and climbing in your ambitions, the passage of time, and even the moments you fall. The sound and lighting design particularly aided the transitions, and I found the quick transitions between scenes seamless and clear.

If trees could talk, what would this particular one say? We as the audience are anchored at this particular point – only privy to the conversations that happen at the base of its trunk. To become invested in these characters in a 70 minute collection of snippets shows the talent that Julia Grogen has in developing and understanding her characters. This piece has received many awards, including the Summerhall Lustrum Award (2024) and it’s easy to see why.

Playfight is showing at Soho Theatre until 26th April.