Writer: Miriam Battye
Director: Osman Ozgun
“It’s just some boy,” yet in Scenes with girls by Miriam Battye, boys – and predominantly sex with boys – is the only thing the women have to talk about when they get together. Returning to London at the Union Theatre following its premiere performance in 2022, this scrappy play explore whether women claiming to embody feminist narratives, the ‘stories’ they need to live up to, are really able to live the theory when the freedoms they crave are challenged by friends who have it all, a contentedness that best friends Lou and Tosh seem unable to find
Lou talks endlessly about the men she’s sleeping with, the things they do, their bodies and sexual abilities, while flatmate Tosh can only listen supportively. Single for 2.5 years, Tosh is drawn to her best friend and can only share dreams of equally erotic but bizarre sexual encounters that the friends giggle over. But when schoolfriend Fran announces her engagement, the dynamic between the young women suddenly shifts, and real life intrudes.
This is a world of child-women (director Osman Ozgun’s set includes both cuddly toys and dildos), a transitional space between who the characters are and who they want to be. Battye’s characters are still young, learning themselves, their bodies and their boundaries when sex or the lack of it seems to define their success and underpin any sense of self-worth. The first half of the play is a series of sketches heavily influenced by sitcoms and movies from Friends (especially the boyfriend bonfire episode), Sex & the City, and even The Traitors, in which Lou, Tosh and even sweet Fran speak frankly, wanting to seem older and more together than they are, hiding a naivety beneath that is never articulated.
In the second half of the play, Battye writes more sustained drama, longer sequences that deal with the betrayals and endurance of female friendship, and although these conversations never dig deeper than rom-com simplicity, the nub of a more interesting story is here. What happens between Lou and Tosh as their friendship evolves becomes far more interesting than their real or imagined sexual antics. Charting the change in their lives as their connection and support of each other is tested feels much weightier than the early conversations.
It’s a shame that Battye forgets about Tosh’s quiet longing for Lou and just gives her a boyfriend to sour their happy household because there is much more to consider here about the intensity of friendships between young women, what needs they fulfil and how painful or inexplicable it can be when they run their course. Equally with the underserved Fran, the challenge of close friends suddenly being in serious relationships, suddenly no longer available or even on the same track could offer far more meat to Scenes with girls and take its commentary to the next level.
All of the performances are enjoyable. Eleanor Hague gets the most to do as Lou, whose character has the most notable trajectory, emerging calmer and a little burned by her experiences in ways all women will recognise. Imogen Peck’s Tosh is a little more haphazard on the page but develops good chemistry with Hague, while Estelle Christie pitches her anxious Fran well, delivering lots of comedy moments and a memorable sitcom laugh.
Boys are just boys, but strong female friendships will last, and Scenes with girls has much more it could say about that.
Runs until 20 March 2026
