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.
GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at the Pleasance Theatre
Reviewed on 20th May 2024
by Amber Woodward
Previously reviewed at this venue:
GISELLE: REMIX | ★★★★★ | April 2024
GWYNETH GOES SKIING | ★★★ | February 2024
CASTING THE RUNES | ★★★ | October 2023
DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY | ★★★★ | November 2022
DIRTY CORSET | ★★½ | April 2022
SHE SEEKS OUT WOOL | ★★★★ | January 2022
DOG SHOW | ★★★★★ | December 2021
LIGHTS OUT | ★★★★ | October 2021
CATCHING COMETS | ★★★★ | September 2021
EXPRESS G&S | ★★★★ | June 2021
GINGER JOHNSON & PALS | ★★★★ | June 2021
GODOT IS A WOMAN | ★★★½ | June 2021
GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME
GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME
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