Writer & Director: Úna Nolan
Running for three nights in the Boy’s School, Úna Nolan’s Need Help (No Worries if Not) is an exploration of female friendship and coming of age as a woman in Ireland; though the play seems to highlight how much that period of early twenties seems to be an extension of adolescence more than a foray into adulthood nowadays. Naoise (Emily Healy), Amelia (Eri Farrell), and Sara (Olivia Walsh) navigate the aftermath of Naoise’s break-up and the realities of the fractured relationships in their own lives, both with each other and beyond, darting back and forth in time to show how they got from A to B.
Nolan has written an interesting and funny play that touches on many of the realities of being a young woman in any period in Ireland. The overriding theme delves into the deep bonds of female friendship; the deep cuts that those bonds can cause when they’re pulled against, and the particular loneliness that comes when they loosen over time, leaving one adrift and isolated. Nolan has managed to represent that distinct situation, that will be relatable to so many women who watch this play, very well. Each of the characters is dealing with their own growing pains; one being forced to grow out of a toxic relationship, another painfully growing away from her mother against her will, and the third trying to learn how to grow alone. Nolan has created well fleshed out personalities here, they feel real and present, and their relationship to each other has a similar depth and substance, with the writing making it easy to imagine that you’re a fly on the wall of a friendship, watching it expand and contract around the young women.
Nolan has gone for a non-linear timeline to tell this story, which works well to show the different important moments, keeping the audience engaged and, intentionally or not, highlighting how similar the characters seem at 18 and now post university in their early twenties. The use of colour in the costuming is a cute touch, with each character carrying that colour through any age or moment that we meet them in. Isabel Hamilton’s set design similarly grounds the play in that feeling of adolescence, with most of the scenes set in Naoise’s (presumably) childhood bedroom, strewn with clothes and empty bottles and make up, with a single bed draped in a gauzy pink canopy.
Healy, Farrell, and Walsh embody the characters well, with Healy playing believably stubborn, Farrell radiating frustration, and Walsh bringing a more thoughtful energy to Sara’s peacemaker role. Each actor hits the comedic notes solidly, eliciting a few genuine belly laughs over the course of the 70 minutes. They play better individually in this piece in some ways, with the dynamic between them feeling forced at times, and though that could be said to reflect the tensions in the friendship, it doesn’t quite feel that way from the audience perspective.
Need Help (No Worries if Not) is a play that is very female centred, both in story and appearance, but that’s not to suggest in any way that it’s a play for women – these stories that explore the day to day reality of growing up as a woman are and should be of interest to everyone, and though some of the specific aspects may be less relatable from a non-female perspective, the themes of coming of age will be relatable to all (though good to note that even with an age rating of 14+, some of the themes and language are not super suitable for a young audience).
Runs Until 1st February.