TRIGGER WARNING: Themes of Eating Disorders, Sexual Assault, Death, etc.
It is safe to say that despite the leaps and bounds women have came on in the last century, we still remain living in what is predominantly a ‘man’s world’. Nothing is really made FOR women. Sure, things are made about women, or involving women, but nothing ever feels like it’s specifically for women.
Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon however, is exactly that.
Written, as writer and star Rosie Day states “for teenage girls and young women”, this 80 minute play gives a witty account of what actually is quite a harrowing tale.
The play tells the tale of a 16 year old girl, facing almost every problem the world has to throw at her. Though many are your average trials and tribulations of being a teenager, more pressing themes include grief, eating disorders, and sexual assault. In this one person play, the audience is taken on a journey over three years after a 13 year old girl loses her sister. And it’s almost impossible, particularly as a female, not to see yourself within the character as the the audience feel for her, connect with her, and find themselves wanting to hear her voice.
A voice, like so many, that is often brushed under the carpet due to age or because girls are too often brought up being seen and not heard.
Entirely by herself, Day portrays incredibly well an ordinary girl from an ordinary life. Who throughout the show begins to reveal a number of secrets, in an attempt to drive home the notion that no one knows what others are battling behind closed doors. Using dark and self depreciating humour the performance carries the audience through every twist and turn of the story, evoking emotions within that almost all teenagers will feel at some point in their lives. And conveying, on a number of occasions, a message of solidarity, understanding, and a strong will to go on even in the worst of times. She effortlessly encapsulates the personality, spoken ways and mannerisms of a child, all while a fire roars inside of her character, the way fire should rage in all women everywhere.
Dubbed a “call to arms for young women anywhere”, Instructions For A Teenage Armageddon challenges taboos and social issues, and encourages the audience to do the same. Like a breath of fresh air, the show questions that which older generations overlook. The state of our healthcare system, or the lack of help for sufferers of mental health issues, despite so many calls for people to reach out for it. In its own unique way this play truly does give instructions for young women to change the world, leaving the audience feeling understood, and fuelled to challenge injustice.
But most of all, please remember even in the worst of times: life can only be understood backwards.
In the play’s final monologue from a character three years older than at the start, we are given a plethora of advice and reassurance, as well as a resounding lesson that nothing is ever as bad as it seems.
A message that anyone who watches this brilliant show will leave well and truly believing.
Instructions For A Teenage Armageddon plays until February 29th at the Old Red Lion Theatre. Buy tickets here.
Chloe Rose
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