In Jonathan Houlston’s strikingly astute and utterly gripping debut play, a school’s locker space is a retreat for its pupils. Here, hypermasculinity is carried out en masse, first dates are kept in secret and reputation-threatening confessions are whispered cautiously.We first meet the kids as a pack, and collectively they play up to the tropes we have actually been on high alert about given that the television drama Adolescence. Banter sprinkled with” your mum”jokes streams, chat about sex lowers their female schoolmates to objectives, and naked photos are shared around like trophies.Well-worn familiarity … Luke Rhodri and Michelle McTernan in Athletics.
Picture: Kirsten McTernan However Houlston presents this montage just as a beginning point, before unstitching the group and taking on the cliches. By the end, each has our sympathy. Ringleader Jason(Harry Lynn)might be a brute to the others, however he’s warding off much even worse in the house. Joe (Houlston) shows himself sweetly unskilled on his very first date with Holly (Anna-Sophia Tutton). 2 of the kids are in a hushed-up relationship with each other, horrified of being discovered out.Timing is essential: it’s the last year of school and those who leave Swansea for university might not recall, splintering the set for good. Perhaps because of this, Joe is questioning his relationship with Jason, who routinely increases his drinks and teases him about his weight. Is it banter, or something more sinister?Things come to a head at an inebriated celebration, and while Houlston’s Swansea detailed students know none of the very same benefits, there’s an echo of Laura Wade’s skillfully mapped Posh to the method hierarchies within the group are challenged, loyalties are dissolved and a plan to cover their backs is hurriedly thrown together.Director Richard Mylan’s production for Grand Aspiration has the mastery of a show that’s been running for years, not a matter of days. All seven performers, including Michelle McTernan
as teacher Miss Rider, occupy their characters with likewise well-worn familiarity. The young boys bounce around Delyth Evans’locker-room set with the agility of dancers, landing punches and managing impressive throwing up stunts.A cliffhanger ending leaves the door open for a 2nd instalment this story doesn’t actually require. This is teen masculinity in its entirety: loud however unpredictable, fragile yet primed to fight. At Swansea Grand theatre up until 11 July