Writer: Miriam Battye
Director: Alex Stroming
Playwright Miriam Battye has garnered quite a reputation in recent years after her 2021 adaptation of Rebecca Watson’s novel little scratch (directed by none other than Katie Mitchell) and then fringe hit Strategic Love Play in 2023. However, T. Regina Theatre Company have revived Battye’s play Scenes with girls, first produced by the Royal Court in 2020. Despite the references to girl band Little Mix, the play about female friendship is as fresh as paint.
Flatmates Louise and Tosh have skewed the narrative in which women have one journey in life, to find a man, give up their agency and marry. Louise resists these expectations by having and, importantly, enjoying, lots of sex. She notches up her sexual conquests like an Alpha man. She comes home and discusses the ‘ins and outs’ of each encounter, often to hilarious effect. Meanwhile, Tosh fights the patriarchy by having no sex whatsoever.
But when old schoolfriend Fran visits to say that she is getting married, Tosh doubles down on her mission to save Louise from the dangers of men. What was once light-hearted and lexical banter is now serious and sinister. It would seem, at times, as if Tosh, a force to be reckoned with, is gaslighting Louise if it weren’t clear that she was going through some kind of psychotic episode.
It’s hard to tell what Tosh’s aims are – is she secretly in love with Louise, or does she value female friendship above heterosexual marriage? – as the whole play has a surreal edge to it, accentuated by the short 22 scenes. This heightened tone is also seen in Strategic Love Play, in which the female protagonist wants a relationship without all the meet-cutes and the early dates. This is not quite real life.
Only Fran brings in a sense of verisimilitude, overshadowed by the energy of her friends and burdened already by her forthcoming marriage. Played by Eli Rose-Cooper, Fran is eternally sad, despite her attempts at ‘acting listening’ to the spiralling philosophies of Tosh and Louise. Although a comical character, Rose-Cooper gives Fran a desolate and lonely air as she endeavours to do the right thing.
Lyndsey Ruiz is Tosh, swinging from reassuring friend to cunning manipulator. Often with a notebook in hand, she writes, perhaps, a manifesto for her campaign to liberate women from rigid societal structures. Playing Louise is Hannah Renar, a bundle of energy, never still and at one point does pelvic floor exercises while she talks to Tosh. They love words too – as if the feminist fight is a purely verbal one – and celebrate when Louise utters “conduit”.
However, their connection is not purely cerebral. They are also products of the 21st Century. They hold on to their phones like a baby grasps its comforter, and dance to silly girl-power pop. Caught in a society that tells them all men are bad and, simultaneously, that marriage is more sacrosanct than friendship, is it any wonder that they are at sea in their messy flat? How should they lead their lives?
Their story would be tragic if it weren’t so funny and clever. Alex Stroming directs at speed, although occasionally some exchanges get lost as the two actors dash and jump around the stage. Of course, Battye’s work is part of a new era of plays and films that celebrate female friendship but Scenes with girls is nicely tempered with malice.
Runs until 3 May 2025
The Reviews Hub Score
Girls behaving badly
