Writer: Libby Boyd
Director: Bobbie-Jean Henning
The title of this Camden Fringe show is misleading, as rather than being about 20th-century physics, Schrödinger’s Lesbians is an overlong ‘will they?/won’t they?’ romance between Greek poet Sappho and fellow Lesbos resident Anactoria. In the prologue to the play, Sappho insinuates that, like the physicist’s famous cat in its box, just because there is no literary evidence of lesbian relationships in Ancient Greece, it doesn’t mean there weren’t sexual connections between women in that era.
The cat, along with trees that don’t make a noise when they fall down in a forest, is quickly forgotten, and we’re whisked back in time to the island in the Aegean Sea where Sappho meets Anactoria at a party. The latter is already drunk, repeating claims that the wine tastes “wine-y”. The two embark on a friendship, but it’s pretty obvious where things are headed.
Charlotte Boyle plays Sappho as innocent, happy-go-lucky and, at times, as a bit of a wet blanket, as far removed from the usual stoic images we have of the Greek poets. However, while Sappho is an engaging figure, there’s no enquiry into her work, the little of it that remains. Instead, we learn that she keeps bees, has a pet tortoise, that she bakes bread (and is terrible at it) and that she likes to eat olives. Her skills at poetry remain unexplored.
Anactoria (Ruby Blue Tansey-Thomas) is more worldly wise and knows more about love and casual sex. She’s just arrived on the island, and, naturally, is of interest to many of the other women on Lesbos. Throw into the mix Sappho’s ex, Writer Libby Boyd’s scheming Atthis, and we have our love triangle. But the jealousy-fuelled story is very ordinary, and the conversations, along with some of the jokes about hives and stargazing, are repetitive.
Bobbie-Jean Henning directs with pace, making sure that scenes blend nicely into each other. There’s a lovely surprise at the end, but it’s a long wait.
Reviewed on 9 August
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
