Blue Elephant Theatre 8-10 May
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
3***
Naked Frank’s show begins as an often-hilarious study of three schoolgirls talking about their useless teachers and lessons. Writer Carleigh-Ann Portelli uses verbatim accounts to develop an ever-darkening story of homophobia and bullying on social media that is sickeningly familiar.
Shannon (Rebecca Briley) is smarter than her grades suggest, but her need to not alienate best friends Rach (Carleigh-Ann Portelli) and Lou (Claire Louise Portelli) sees her making some bad choices. Lou is not the brightest star in the constellation, more of a black hole devoid of any flicker of intelligence or common sense, while Rach at first appears to be merely the alpha of the group, joking and making party plans, but is slowly revealed as every student’s nightmare – a manipulative bully so lacking in empathy and interest in anyone but herself that she is incredulous that people take offence at her “banter”. It is Rachel who hands Lou and Shannon the metaphorical bullets to fire, and they gleefully and naively go along with everything she says.
The girls’ descriptions of their teachers are fantastic; the obsession of their PHSE teacher with her Collins Dictionary is portrayed with great physical comedy. The girls’ plans to set up Shannon’s cousin with new girl in school Christine lead to a revelation about Christine’s sexuality that consumes the school in a group chat tsunami.
The girls’ hatred for PHSE, and their questioning of its worth is amusing, with some great one-liners, but Portelli ensures that the lack of knowledge and emotional and social intelligence of the characters hammer home the importance of these lessons in schools today, especially in Key Stage 2 and 3, so that 17-year-olds like these girls won’t be quite as clueless in the future. Voice overs from politicians preaching about the issues to be tackled in schools will make you roll your eyes, evoking the same response that teachers get from their students. To be honest, classes would probably get more from watching and discussing a more polished version of this play than what the curriculum offers in some schools.
The cast have great chemistry and their physical work is a delight. they are totally convincing as teenagers. The plot is smart, and enough curveballs are thrown in to keep it from being predictable. Scene changes are marked by the cast building up a graffiti wall while politicians talk about homophobia and LGBT rights, which is an interesting idea, but loses its appeal the more often you have to sit through it.
Before it Starts is a show with enormous potential – funny, brutally honest and thought-provoking, with a bleak message that needs to be heard by a wider audience.