Review Girls Like That – Dorchester Youth Theatre

DYT have struck gold again. Their recent production of Girls Like That goes straight to the nub of some intensely concerning issues that young people live with, in the age of super-fast communication.

Bob Dylan said 'the times, they are a-changing' and never more quickly than in the present era. We are living in interesting, if not worrying times. Parents of a certain age had great concerns that technology would lead to a lack of communication between young people, but actually the opposite has happened and people communicate with other so quickly, it makes the heads of we baby-boomers spin.

Evan Placey’s excellent play Girls Like That was directed by Jo Simons and performed by an energetic and talented cast. It is the salutary story of a girl, Scarlett, who, from her earliest years at school, was a bit of a misfit. Nothing major, just on the edge of things. As school progresses she becomes increasingly alienated from her peer-group and eventually, as a teenager, a naked picture of her is sent round her class, then the school and then beyond with potentially tragic consequences.

Interspersed with the contemporary story are some vignettes of young women through the ages and how they have taken on society’s attitude to girls and women. All becomes clear as to how these pieces are relevant to Scarlett’s story and her modern day situation.

As an ensemble piece, it would be unfair to pick out specific performances, especially as the show had gone on, despite the ill health of a key member of the team sadly being unable to perform at only 4 hours beforehand. Many things made this production excellent, beyond the superb writing.

Firstly, the simplicity of the set. It is, fortunately, no longer seen as important to have a naturalistic set in theatre. The more simple the physical setting, the more the audience will listen to the words being given to them and this was excellently exemplified here. Then there was the choreography.

It is so difficult to have a young, largely untrained group of people move around a stage without it looking awkward and overly manufactured, but it was brilliantly orchestrated. Then finally, there is the cast. The engagement and understanding displayed by this fine young group of actors was superb. They all, quite clearly, had a firm grasp on what it was that they were delivering to their audience.

This is not easy subject matter, but it IS what young people grapple with in their lives and not all of the audience will have had that understanding. It did not just take “good acting” but it also involved some courage as the subject matter was gritty and pulled no punches and it is not always easy for this age-group to have these discussions, whether acting or not, with older generations.

So I applaud them and their wonderful support crew for really demonstrating the complexities of being a teenager in a difficult and often frightening world.

Congratulations to all concerned.

JOANNA BAZALGETTE