Review: GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at The Pleasance, London

 


Date: 20th May 2024 

Seat: Unallocated

Tickets: Gifted

Rating: 4 Stars

Maddy thinks this is her story, but it’s not. It’s not even her friend, Maria’s story. It’s our story, all of us, or at least it could be. What a terrifying thought. 

Girls Really Listen to Me, written and performed by Eleanor Greene and directed by Alex Prescot, is a compelling, perhaps even devastating, one-woman play about Maddy, a spoilt 15-year-old girl private school girl from New York who, at first glance, seems far removed from any experience the audience might have had, but who, as the play progresses, becomes more like everyone else than she might realise. 

Maddy is trying to grow up too fast; she’s obsessed with older boys and clubs and drinking, but when her friend Maria is assaulted, Maddy becomes a social outcast – she’s blamed (in part, at least), for what happened. Because, as it turns out, the girls really do listen to her, and she’s used that power in the wrong way. But then again, at 15, what does she know? It’s clear she’s not got any useful parental figures in her life, so she’s figuring it out herself, and she’s figured it out wrong. 

The play’s realism is both its strength and its horror, skillfully blending humour with sudden shifts to discomfort and fear – the audience could feel that tonal change, and from laughing out loud, they became silent, listening to whatever awful yet all-too-familiar (even if only tangentially) story Maddy was about to tell. 

Eleanor Greene’s performance is captivating, easily embodying Maddy’s complex character and the dramatic fallout of her experiences, with throwaway lines that actually become more important the more you think about them. In fact, the title itself is something Maddy just says more to herself than anyone else as she casually swipes away on her phone, and that casualness just underscores the entire story’s chilling nature. 

Girls Really Listen to Me is a thought-provoking and unselling exploration of adolescence, social dynamics, and the impact of our actions – it’s a must-see performance. 

Girls Really Listen to Me plays at the Pleasance, London until 21st May 2024, and then heads to the Edinburgh Fringe: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/girls-really-listen-to-me


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