Girls & Boys – Nottingham Playhouse

Writer: Dennis Kelly

Director: Anna Ledwich

It all starts so simply. A chance encounter at an airport, an initial dislike that somehow turns itself into a passionate relationship, marriage, children. Lives that are chaotic in the way that so many are, mutual support and encouragement – nothing remotely unusual, in fact.

Dennis Kelly’s play begins with our unnamed character in front of a black curtain telling us this humorous anecdote, in what Kelly refers to as a “chat”. After a while it transforms into a scene, a normal family home where she is playing with her – unseen – children. She’s run ragged trying to look after a baby and a toddler, but it’s a home full of love. Then the fourth wall breaks and she’s back, chatting to the audience again about how her life is going, her work, her marriage. So it goes, a mixture of chats and scenes with her growing children, who, though we may never see them, are created vividly in our imaginations by the power of her interactions with them. The tone of the chats changes subtly, and although it’s delivered with the same humour as before, things are maybe not as rosy as they were – but it’s nonetheless a pretty mundane, ordinary existence.

Thus the audience is lulled into a cosy sense of enjoying the comic anecdotes while watching her family grow up – so when the bombshell hits, as it surely must, it comes suddenly and strikes home with even more power. It’s brutal, to the point where, before we learn any details, she warns us that “If it gets difficult – and it will get difficult – I want you to remember two things: remember that this did not happen to you, and that it is not happening now.”

Aisling Loftus gives an unflinching tour-de-force performance in an emotionally-draining two hours alone on stage in this regional premiere of Kelly’s play. It’s the nature of her delivery that adds to the impact of the dialogue and the events that are described, the love, the savage expletive-laden humour, the devastation when things go wrong. She’s fully-invested in her performance, as the twinkle in her eye disappears and is replaced by a discernible wetness when she relates the events that have unfolded. After a comfortable start, the last half-hour of this play is far from easy to watch but it’s equally shocking and gripping, literally horrifying yet you can’t turn away from it.

Designer Janet Bird and lighting designer Matt Haskins have devised a set that echoes the themes of the play beautifully from warm and cosy – literally peachy – to cold and bleak as things change. It’s a breathtaking powerhouse of a piece, though not one for younger theatre-goers and one where you’d be well advised to take good note of the content advisory notice when booking tickets.

There can be few people who can watch this and remain unaffected by it. It’s stunning and horrifying in equal measure, with an undeniably outstanding performance by Loftus.

Runs until 1 March 2025