We Could All Be Perfect is writer Hanna Morley's debut stage production and it is directed by Sheffield based Ruby Clarke. The play looks at teenage girls and the power and energy that these young girls feel at an age where they are moving from childhood into adulthood. Writer Hannah Morley says that she had noticed that there is often a teenage girl at the centre of a revolution eg. Gretta Thunberg, Joan of Arc and that she was interested in why this might be and what it is about teenage girls that they feel like they can change the world.
The play doesn't have a coherent story instead you see little snippets into the lives of many different teenage girls throughout history and even into the future. These snippets show us different aspects of teenage life and the intense feelings and emotions these young girls go through. Some of the things we are shown include, peer pressure to steel a lipstick, bullying, girls worrying about the way they look, a proposal from the regency era, girls talking about boys, sex and their bodies, girls putting their makeup on and getting ready, we see a girl with a stalker like obsession with a singer, we see a group of girls from the 70's dressed in mini skirts jumping up and down in excitement, we see girls practicing TikTok dances and girls reading out social media comments and many more little scenes. This fast pace jumping to different scenes felt very reminiscent of scrolling through social media sites such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, where you see just a few seconds of someone's life and then you scroll on to the next video. There is one story however that we keep getting taken back to and this is the only story that progresses as the play goes on. This story is set in the future in a dystopian world where teenage girls find each other and band together to form a new republic, we see these girls discussing what rules they believe they need to put in place and what needs to happen so that they can all be perfect.
The play takes place in the playhouse theatre and for this production a large white lit up runway bisects the theatre space as it runs across the floor and up the walls, it's on this runway that most of the play takes place. The lighting used in the show works really well on this white runway as the runway reflects the lighting making the actors really stand out against it. One of the things which I liked was the use of ring lights in the play as they were not just used as props but also as part of Jessie Addinall's lighting design, the ring light would often change colour simultaneously and I thought this was a relay clever idea and was visually appealing.
There were a lot of costume changes in this show from togas, to mini skirts, regency dresses, nightgowns, swimwear and many more but there was one thing that they all had in common, all the girls outfits were pink which is stereotypically a colour we tend to associate with girls.
The thing which really made this play fantastic was its talented cast of 5, Anshula Bain, Heather Foster, Rosa Hesmondhalgh and Alice Walker were all truly believable as teenage girls and absolutely hilarious, all had excellent comic timing. All five cast members had multiple roles to play and all were able to seamlessly slip from one character to the next.
I really enjoyed We Could All Be Perfect, its a celebration of teenage girls, its fun fast paced and incredibly funny. It has something in it for everyone and I believe everyone will be able to relate to this play in some way.
We Could All Be Perfect is running at Sheffield Theatres Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse until Saturday 14th October 2023
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Photo Credit - Becky Payne
*Our tickets for this show were kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review
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