(Holly O’Mahony’s article appeared in the Guardian 7/8/20226’ Photo: Well-worn familiarity … Photo: The Edit Wales.)
Swansea Grand theatre
School locker room banter has a sinister edge in Jonathan Houlston’s shrewd debut, which pairs the toxic tropes of Adolescence with the group dynamics of Laura Wade’s Posh
In Jonathan Houlston’s strikingly astute and utterly gripping debut play, a school’s locker room is a retreat for its pupils. Here, hypermasculinity is performed en masse, first dates are held in secret and reputation-threatening confessions are whispered cautiously.
We first meet the boys as a pack, and collectively they play up to the tropes we’ve been on high alert about since the TV drama Adolescence. Banter sprinkled with “your mum” jokes flows, chat about sex reduces their female classmates to goals, and nude pictures are shared around like trophies.
But Houlston presents this montage only as a starting point, before unstitching the group and tackling the cliches. By the end, each has our sympathy. Ringleader Jason (Harry Lynn) might be a brute to the others, but he’s fending off much worse at home. Joe (Houlston) proves himself sweetly inexperienced on his first date with Holly (Anna-Sophia Tutton). Two of the boys are in a hushed-up relationship with each other, terrified of being found out.
Timing is pivotal: it’s the last year of school and those who leave Swansea for university might not look back, splintering the set for good. Perhaps because of this, Joe is questioning his friendship with Jason, who regularly spikes his drinks and teases him about his weight. Is it banter, or something more sinister?
