Review: Millennium Girls, Brixton House

Sophia Leonie’s Millennium Girls debuts at Brixton House this month. Directed by Jade Lewis, it’s a stylish, invigorating, insightful but also hilariously funny look at the lives of teenage girls on the brink of a new millennium—with banging music!

Jessica (Leonie) is a mixed-race girl, growing up working class in London after having moved to the big city from Brighton. From being the brownest girl in the school she’s now one of the whitest, and it’s a struggle to conform with the social expectations that are being forced upon her. Over five years, we learn about her relationships with friends and family, encounter predatory males and unpack the difficulties of just being who she is.

An excellent cast of four work seamlessly together, bringing infectious energy and movement to the piece. Leonie as Jess charts the girl’s transformation across years with surety and gives an at times highly moving performance. Meanwhile, Tamara Camacho brings a softness to the role of Chanel that adds dramatic balance to the difficult topics encountered. The standout performance undoubtedly comes from Unique Spencer, who is exceptional as Latisha. There is a bold, charismatic intensity to everything she does that is hugely engaging. Additional minor characters are portrayed with skill by all the actors; the male roles in particular are succinctly defined and well performed, both comic as pastiche but at times darkly predatory.

Jessica’s story is revealed via a framing device where as an adult her own daughter discovers the truth about her past amongst items she’s packing as she moves out of the family home. It’s a nice theatrical setup that allows Nkhanise Phiri to give a considered portrayal of teenager Jasmine and she absolutely nails the difficult space between childishness and adulthood. Phiri is also a brilliant MC, embracing a descending microphone to slightly surreally mark passing years with nostalgic references to history and music. It’s an excellent dramatic choice, drawing the audience in as the characters’ experiences and our own are mirrored in memory.

A vibrant retro soundtrack (Khalil Madovi) builds an authentic, energetic vibe, placing us very specifically in the context of each time period and connecting the audience through kinetic familiarity. It’s supported by Laura Howard’s colourful and dynamic lighting design that confidently underscores the drama.

Leonie’s writing is spirited but also emotionally textured, balancing laugh-out-loud comedy with poignant anguish and taking the audience enthusiastically along on the ride. Exploring unhealthy relationships and colourism, she carefully sets the scene of another time when language, communication and knowledge were all differently understood. Her writing offers astute observations on female vulnerability and sexual objectification, both in the past and in modern times with the dangers of global Internet distribution. She also interestingly identifies an intergenerational thread of mothers being undervalued and unheard, and of broken families.

There are a few moments of inconsistency: Jess claims she didn’t have a background of understanding issues of being mixed-race, when we’ve earlier heard how her mother has decried the use of the term ‘half-caste’. It’s also a little confusing as to whether Jasmine’s knowledge is coming from a Walkman or written papers, and perhaps descriptive props might assist with the latter.

That aside, Millennium Girls is an informative, highly entertaining work that gives important visibility to a group of underrepresented women and their quite specific issues. The play redefines preconceptions of historically chronically underestimated girls to instead understand them as aspirational and valuable. Go for the music, go for the top performances, but go and hear a powerfully timeless message of female solidarity and support.

Written by: Sophia Leonie
Directed by: Jade Lewis
Set and Costume Design by: Cara Evans
Lighting Design by: Laura Howard
Composer and Sound Design by: Khalil Madovi
Music Supervision by: Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante
Movement Direction by: Gabrielle Nimo
Produced by: Zoe Gibbons

Millennium Girls runs at Brixton House until Saturday 31 May. You can read more about the show in our recent interview with Sophia Leonie.