Review: SHEWOLVES, Southwark Playhouse

Review: SHEWOLVES, Southwark Playhouse

Summary

Rating

60

Good

A wonderful celebration of youthful activism and female friendship that will inject a welcome burst of optimism into your heart.

It’s always a mixed blessing to go to a show that already has rave reviews and a successful Edinburgh run under its belt. Especially when a fellow Everything Theatre reviewer has previously reviewed the show when it played in Edinburgh. But I head to the Southwark Playhouse with a fresh mind, ready to form my own opinion on this intriguing show. 

SHEWOLVES tells the story of two Derby school girls, Priya (Gurjot Dhaliwal) and Lou (Harriet Waters). Priya is skiving school when she meets Lou, who’s also choosing to miss class but to go on a strike for climate. These two form an unlikely bond when Priya follows Lou home in a desperate attempt to avoid going back to her own.  In amongst the eyebrow plucking and the dance routines from Priya, Lou attempts to teach her new friend about Greta Thunberg and the climate strike. For various reasons this leads to the two girls heading off to the Peak District, armed with pop tarts and beans, oh and a taser. What follows is a tale of friendship, activism and overcoming challenges no child should have to suffer.

Lou and Priya are instantly loveable characters, and Dhaliwal and Waters embrace their roles with youthful exuberance and naivety. It’s fun to watch them bound around the stage, and Dhaliwal’s comic timing is impeccable – some of the best moments of the show come from her facial expressions. The whole thing is fast-paced with an energy thatnever drops, and despite its serious undertones, there’s a lot of laughter filling the theatre. This is perhaps where the show loses its impact, it feels slightly uncomfortable to be in a room full of adults laughing at an earnest teenager doing an impression of Greta Thunberg. Surely, we’re past the point of impersonating Greta for comic effect, or laughing at a teenager striking for climate.

Having said that, the show does have impact through its naivety, which is refreshing in many ways. The youthful exuberance is captured by the music, set and lighting. It’s fun, there’s a lot of colour. The way the set is transformed into woodland in the Peak District is subtle, yet effective. And combined with the obvious skill of the cast, this over air-conditioned space in South London is transported to a bothy in the middle of nowhere on a cold night.

SHEWOLVES feels like it could be the start of a new movement, the literal howls from the cast are echoed by obvious fans in the room at the end, and it does feel empowering to witness Lou and Priya find their voices. It’s always a joy to see female voices thrive. The future appears bright for SHEWOLVES, as it celebrates and tells the story of “complex women who have agency within their lives”.

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Written by Sarah Middleton
Directed by Hannah Stone
Produced by SHEWOLVES Productions, Southwark Playhouse and JOP Arts

SHEWOLVES plays at Southwark Playhouse until 8 July. Further information and bookings can be found here.