★★★

“Regan clearly has a talent for light-hearted comedy and storytelling”

16 Postcodes is a series of short, autobiographic stories told by actor Jessica Regan about her experiences living in London. An audience member is invited up on stage to pick a postcode (written on a postcard and attached to the backdrop of the stage) and Regan performs the selected story. Each story is about a different London gaff and the spans are wide: from North to South, East to West. Regan has been on an expansive and diverse journey, trying to find what London means to her.

She greets the audience as they enter, innocently asking them where they’re from, to get them thinking about locations. She riffs with ease, nudging the audience into feeling comfortable about mild participation.

Regan clearly has a talent for light-hearted comedy and storytelling, combining both in this easy viewing series. As we dart through different postcodes, Regan covers important topics, such as: women’s safety, homelessness, feeling out of place, tight landlords. And she does this with a likeable comedic edge, blending naturalism with stand-up comedy.

The staging was a bare setup; simply with a table, two chairs and a small backdrop of greenery where Regan attaches the postcards with postcodes on. It could’ve been even simpler, giving her more freedom of movement, something which the show lacked. While the rough and ready set added to the charm of the piece, it felt clunky, at times; with Regan getting stuck behind obstacles while addressing the audience. There was use of a mic at one point too, which raised questions about its use and the reason for it.

The lighting and sound, too, were basic. With small changes either signifying time of day or change of scene, rather than mood and atmosphere. This meant that the show relied solely on Regan to deliver engaging narrative, which she did execute a lot of the time. The humour was a little tame and lacked some renter grit, but it made for an entertaining fifty minutes.

Any Londoner would see etchings of themselves in these short tales of renting, with humour used as a relieving mode of coping and a medium which ties the community together. There is felt, lived experience in the storytelling. 16 Postcodes finishes with some sad truths about the state of the renting sector. The show covers a timeline which starts in 2004, and the factual ending is a stark reminder of the situation a large number of Londoners find themselves in.

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★★

“short and sweet with a clear and precise character arc and message”

Madeleine (Eleanor Greene) is a spoilt Gen Z teen living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan channelling a little bit of Blair Waldorf mixed with a heavy dose of Julia Fox – and actually more than a passing resemblance to a blend of them both too. At sixteen, she acts much older than she is; thinking it’s impressive to get into nightclubs underage and spewing #girlboss mantras like ‘everybody is a business, and life’s moments are a marketing opportunity’. She’s pretty despicable, but in a conscious ‘love-to-hate-her’ sort of way.

Because whilst she may be financially privileged, she’s also had to grow up fast. Between diatribes about the losers in her private school milieu and boasts about how popular she is with boys, we learn that Madeleine’s mother is never around, and no mention of a father-figure. Madeleine convincingly tells us she would much prefer a mum who she doesn’t see for weeks, who leaves the house for SoulCycle at 5am before her job at the hedge fund, because that’s boss bitch energy. It’s easy to see through the bravado.

But what Madeleine is really here to tell us about is what happened to her friend Maria last year at the annual house party where senior boys select a freshman girl each to have sex with. It’s reminiscent of the Brock Turner case from 2016, where a Stanford swimmer was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at a frat party. Whilst one might assume that the #metoo movement that closely followed this case and subsequent cultural conversations about consent might have made things more transparent for young women exploring their sexuality. But much of what Madeleine and Maria experience as adolescents feels all too familiar, despite the generational divide between her and the majority of the audience.

The slight edge in this piece is the exploration of Madeleine’s potential complicity in what happened. In her blasé manner she makes it clear nothing is her fault. But perhaps she can’t countenance that she may have been partly to blame for what happened to her friend.

Eleanor Greene has confidence and ease on stage, comfortable indulging in the quiet moments to build tension as she scrolls tiktok, takes selfies for Snapchat, or replies to her boyfriend, with the ridiculous name Braxton Dupont. Her constant refrain ‘I have to take this’, whenever she gets a message about the plans for the club later is hilarious. Collaborating with Director Alex Prescot, they get the privilege teen apathy vibe bang on, particularly through the choice of Lana Del Ray hits that accompany the tiktok doom scroll.

Girls Really Listen to Me is short and sweet with a clear and precise character arc and message. Whilst it may be difficult at first to have any empathy for this privileged princess from the off, its exploration of adolescence and womanhood proves there is more unity to be found than first meets the eye.

16 POSTCODES at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★

“Regan clearly has a talent for light-hearted comedy and storytelling”

16 POSTCODES at the Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 29th October 2024

by Curtis Dean

Photography by Steve Ullathorne

Previously reviewed at this venue:

16 POSTCODES

16 POSTCODES

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★★

“short and sweet with a clear and precise character arc and message”

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at the Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 20th May 2024

by Amber Woodward

Previously reviewed at this venue:

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME