Writer: Rosie Day
Director: Georgie Staight
Following a sell-out run in 2020, Instructions for A Teenage Armaggeddon returns to London and this time has set up camp at Southwark Playhouse. Rosie Day, who also penned the solo piece, performs as Eileen; a cynical and dark-humoured young girl navigating her teenage years with an unfortunate amount of family baggage.
The piece establishes almost immediately that Eileen had an older sister, Olive, who died while eating a yorkshire pudding. This seemingly silly-yet-serious concept sets the initial tone of the piece as Eileen guides us through the immediate aftermath of the bereavement with wit and pessimistic quips. As she continues to battle through her adolescent years, however, the cracks in her armour begin to show, revealing that what Eileen wants more than anything is to be taken seriously; and earn all of the badges in her Scout group.
Day is stunning in her role, or rather roles, as she playfully takes on countless characters as she guides us through Eileen’s difficult teenage years. She perfectly embodies the young rebel, oozing with attitude, insecurity, and enough cheekiness to get away with more than a couple of risque jokes. Yet it is her unflinching vulnerability which eventually steals the show and, after such a controlled performance of Eileen’s resilient front, when Day finally breaks, the audience breaks with her.
An intelligent set design by Cara Evans creatively contrasts the cosy bedroom aesthetic of fairy-lights and solar system wallpaper with the recognisable wilderness of tree stumps, wood chips, and clumsy fire to cook on; suitable for Eileen’s Scouting obsession. The way that the wood chips are penned-in, whilst undoubtedly a logistical choice, also echoes a playground setting and visually cues that this is Eileen’s survival arena for her teenage ‘armageddon’.
Video design by Dan Light also complements the storytelling as projections regularly illuminate each wall of the corner-stage to establish location, insert brilliantly-timed dialogue, and shift the mood with abstract graphics. In fact, the production value of the entire piece cannot be flawed; every prop, costume and lighting shift feels thought-out, well-executed and necessary.
Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon makes for very entertaining viewing but audiences should certainly check the content warnings and strap in for an emotional rollercoaster. The play’s laugh-out-loud quality goes from sixty-to-zero (and back again), but in the talented hands of Rosie Day you never get whiplash; just be ready to laugh, cry, and inevitably cheer for this stellar production.
Runs until 5 March 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
A stellar production
