“Impressively staged, but ultimately disappointing”
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner. Now the thing with graphic novels is the author not only provides the words but also the pictures to allow the reader to interpret the storyline in their own way, yet providing them with the basic look of the characters and settings.
The concept of a graphic novel is therefore much harder to translate into a stage work than say just a novel on its own. Steer away too much from the artist’s original character led drawings and you risk losing fan base. Stick too closely to them, and it’s all a little too safe and predictable. It’s a hard thing to get right.
The film of the work received mainly good reviews, but that genre allowed much more deep exploration of the characters – so whilst sticking to Gloeckner’s original look and feel of 1970s San Francisco, it managed to add an extra dimension making it gritty and real.
The show at the Southwark Playhouse is delivered, as short scenes based around the diary entries of Minnie (Rona Morison). Minnie is only fifteen and in the throws of her sexual awakening, she flirts and ends up in a sexual relationship with Monroe (Jamie Wilkes), her mother’s on-off boyfriend. The play hints that Monroe may have instigated the relationship, but it’s clear Minnie is the one that feels strongest about it.
This could easily be a modern day tale of child abuse and grooming. Delivered as ‘comedy’ it is a little unsettling to watch at times. With her drug taking mother Charlotte (Rebecca Trehearn), oblivious to what’s happening with her daughter, this could also be interpreted as a tale of neglect.
Whilst the original novel is about the sexual awakening of Minnie, there is a lot more content in it than the play shows. This adaptation chooses to focus wholly on the sexual parts of the story and as such fails to give any real background to a lot of the scenes or give us any real in depth understanding of the characters, other than Minnie.
It is impressively staged in ‘The Little’ – a credit to the set, lighting, sound and video designers involved. The actors deliver their lines well, with Rona Morison and Jamie Wilkes being particularly impressive. But ultimately this show is just ‘OK’, rather than anything remarkable. With the content of the novel, it could have been adapted to be something much more gripping and gritty. A little disappointing.
Rona Morison, Rebecca Trehearn and Saskia Strallen star alongside Mark Caroll and Jamie Wilkes
Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner which was turned into a major film in 2015.
Atomicus Entertainment presents
THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL
Adapted by Marielle Heller.
Directed by Alexander Parker.
Designed by Andrew Riley.
Lighting Design by David Howe.
Sound Design by James Nicholson.
Cast
Mark Carroll
Rona Morison
Saskia Strallen
Rebecca Trehearn
Jamie Wilkes
The Diary of a Teenage Girl recounts the coming-of-age adventures of Minnie Goetze, a San Francisco teenager growing up in the counterculture haze of the 1970s.
Lonely and artistic, Minnie chronicles her trials through expressive drawings and painfully honest missives confided to a tape recorder. One fateful evening alone with her mother’s boyfriend, Minnie is confronted with her burgeoning sexuality for the first time, and suddenly this precocious teen is in way over her head.
Based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, which was later turned into a major award-winning motion picture film starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård and Kristen Wiig, Marielle Heller’s explosive play is a sharp, funny and provocative account of one girl’s sexual and artistic awakening, without judgment.
Rona Morison plays Minnie. Recently at Southwark Playhouse she starred in Orca. She has just finished filming Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg which will be released in 2018. Other theatre credits include Julie (Northern Stage), The Crucible (Bristol Old Vic), Buckets (Orange Tree), Scuttlers (Manchester Royal Exchange), The James Plays (National Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and The Second Mrs Tanqueray (Rose Theatre).
Rebecca Trehearn plays Charlotte (Minnie’s mother). She trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Theatre includes The Night Before Christmas (Salisbury Playhouse), A Little of What You Fancy (Salisbury Playhouse), Floyd Collins (Wilton’s Music Hall), Show Boat (New London Theatre/Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), City Of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), Dogfight (Southwark Playhouse), Ghost (UK National Tour), Bernarda Alba (Union Theatre). Recording includes film soundtracks for Into The Woods, The Da Vinci Code and Mamma Mia! Rebecca can also be heard as Rosalia on the 50th Anniversary recording of West Side Story, on the Love Story original cast recording and as Abby on Bobby Cronin’s The Concrete Jungle studio cast recording.
Saskia Strallen plays Kimmie. Her theatre credits include Oklahoma!, Fame, Scrooge, 9 to 5 The Musical (National Tour), Miss Atomic Bomb (St. James Theatre), Street of Dreams (MEN Arena), The Best Little Whore House in Texas, Dames at Sea, Bells are Ringing (Union Theatre), Billy Elliott (Victoria Palace), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Scrooge (Palladium), Jesus Christ Superstar (UK tour), Whistle Down the Wind, Annie (New Victoria Theatre) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (New Wimbledon Theatre).
Mark Carroll plays Pascal. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Theatre includes The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre), Memphis the Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Marguerite, Jesus Christ Superstar, Oliver!, Miss Saigon (West End). Television includes Doctor Who.
Jamie Wilkes plays Monroe. He trained at LAMDA. Theatre includes The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Rover, Oppenheimer, Shoemaker’s Holiday, Wendy & Peter Pan (all RSC), The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare’s Globe), Howl’s Moving Castle, The Boy James, Lorca is Dead, Atrium, Tartuffe (all Southwark Playhouse), The Beggar’s Opera, Macbeth (York Theatre Royal), Dracula (Edinburgh International Festival), Metamorphosis (NSDF Spotlight Award for Best Actor). Television includes Mr Selfridge and Downton Abbey.
Listing
THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL
Wednesday 1 March – Saturday 25 March 2017
Monday to Saturday at 8pm Tuesday matinees at 3.30pm Saturday matinees at 3.30pm
