See me now - Young Vic

Saw it last night. It's pretty interesting. Mostly a collection of monologues, with some music and dance/movement. The stories are all very impactful, and they've cast a group of people with a pretty wide range of experiences. Sometimes I would have liked to see those experiences more in dialogue with each other (e.g what would the girl who had been trafficked think of the other woman's comment about the over-victimization of sex workers?). The aim of that wouldn't be to invalidate anyone's perspective or experience, but just to create a dialogue and build in more of the moral complexity surrounding the laws and social stigmas.

Many of the performers aren't trained actors, so it's a little rough at the moment, but I'm sure they'll find their footing as the run progresses. Even so, there's something kind of beautiful about its current, rougher state. When there were line flubs, they would help each other get back on track, and really support each other when they got nervous. It was a refreshing reminder that these are really people who are bravely telling their own stories, despite not necessarily having a background in theatre.

I don't know if you would technically categorize it as verbatim theatre, since the performers are playing themselves and telling their own stories in the form of monologues that they wrote for the show. It's done in thrust formation - all on the ground. I'm sure all the seats will be great. There's some audience involvement, for which they mostly pick people in the front and on the aisles (though I was in the front and did not get picked). Some of the performers aren't as great as projecting their voices as others, so closer might be better. But it's an intimate space so I'm sure it's not a big issue anyway. 

I really liked this. I thought it could be a good experience to learn about the reasons why one is a sex worker from the voice of real people and it really works. There is a very intimate atmosphere and the performers are very brave to tell their stories. Some are better in keeping the attention of the audience and others less, but there feeds into the reality of the show. I was particularly moved by Zarya's story: she just looked and sounded like many girls I see on the tube or around London, but her options were cut off very early. Very sad.