The Wolves, Stratford East

Lots of favourable reviews of this have come out today. 4* in Time Out, ES, The Stage, Whatsonstage.

The Yard is reasonably close. And has a nice bar. No idea what if anything is on currently. But nice bar.

I think there's a good chance your teenage daughter might well enjoy it, but it's worth mentioning that it is pretty sweary and there's some stuff I'd have been a bit embarrassed about seeing or hearing when with my mother when I was a teenager (e.g. about tampons).

I appreciate that different people feel differently about these things, and maybe I was terribly prudish back in the day, or more likely worried about my mum realising that I knew more than she thought I knew! But it seems worth saying.

I enjoyed it a lot. The ES review mentions that it takes time tune into the overlapping dialogue, and I found that the case. It didn't begin that promisingly, for me, but I really engaged with it after an uncertain start. 

Thanks for the heads up dani. I'll bear that in mind. I would certainly have been mortified in that situation but fortunately - at least for the girls around me - things seem to have changed a bit for the better. Kudos for this goes in part to organisations like Bloody Good Period which certainly seems to be succeeding in eliminating at least some stigmas. It would still probably be better if she went to see this with friends but - even at a tenner - many of her school colleagues would find buying a ticket a stretch.

Saw this last night. Excellent writing and performances - it's quite striking how quickly you can delineate the players personalities, which is quite something considering there are 9 of them.

90 minutes rushes by and you're left wishing you could see more of these characters lives and futures.

Definitely worth venturing out to Stratford to give this team your support.

Yes, saw this last night, and it was fantastic. Another of those apparently undramatised this-is-life-as-it-really-is plays, like Alexander Zeldin's "Love" or "Beyond Caring," or Annie Baker's "The Flick" or "Circle Mirror Transformation," where imposed drama would just seem contrived because the characters are so vibrant.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Superficially, this is like the Almeida's "Dance Nation," with a team of sporty young girls chatting away as they train for competitions, but this is much less political, in that there is no caricature of a male trainer there to persecute them and make obvious points about the pressures society rains down on women.

Instead, this is much more a character piece, about the intricate wonders of how personalities come into being, how conversations and experiences take what genetic predispositions you have to be a certain way, and shape them by osmosis. As such, this is a much more likeable piece than "Dance Nation," as the girls are much freer to be themselves, and to find themselves, along with the audience, without some pervasive force perpetually bearing down on them.

The characters are remarkably written, such that they all have distinct predispositions, but all are given the chance to be more than what they appear, to mould themselves into the group and be subtly changed by it. Cleverly, the play doesn't name the characters, so all are untouched by the subtle characterising that names bring with them, so the audience is utterly free to discover the quirks and sensibilities of each character.

This is one of those shows like Posh at the Royal Court, where you just know that the performances you are watching are so distinctive and memorable, that the actors on stage will all go on to bigger (but not better) things.

All 9 ensemble team members shine, with each actor adapting to her character's quirks: with Seraphina Beh, as the monotonal verging-on-silent goalie, number 00, using ultra-expressive eyes to speak volumes; with Annabel Baldwin's new team member, 46, brightly radiating an openness, to everyone and everything, like a young Sheridan Smith; Shalisha James-Davis's 8 fearfully carrying the weight of the world around her brows, Francesca Henry's 2 so overloaded on processing the world that her eyes bulge vacantly; Lauren Grace's 7, making mean and rude like a typical Regina George, then displaying unexpected vulnerability and resilience, with her best friend, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers's 14, at once the bright submissive acolyte, yet also distinct and singular, insisting on her Armenian heritage when others would brand her Mexican.

The three most remarkable performances, in reverse order, for me, being focused on comedy, were:

(3) Hannah Jarrett-Scott's 25, the team captain, who channels her body and speech patterns in such a regimented staccato way that she seems like a sergeant major, so that when she gets a haircut, it's exactly what you would expect;

(2) Rosie Sheehy's 13, the politically incorrect clown of the team, a female counterpart to John Belushi in Animal House, who clumsily irrepressibly jitters and jumps around the stage, such that it's not just her mouth and body that seem to have ADHD, but every part of her body;

(1) And for me, the most wonderful performance of the night was Nina Bowers' 11, a young woman who never stops talking, never stops creating awkward silences, which momentarily shatter her expression with ticks of blinking discomfort, only for her eyes to steel and pierce once more with resolve, as she sets out to fire more bullets of the irrepressible ideas forming in her young but agile mind. It is a memorable and hilariously true performance, and Nina Bowers is definitely a name I'd recommend to anyone casting a comedy, as she unforgettably and undoubtedly got the most laughs of the night.

For anyone who likes Annie Baker, this is just as good, a portrait of growing up that is as true as I've seen. The new regime at Stratford East is 2 for 2 for me.

4 and a half stars.