Review: Dennis Kelly’s Girls and Boys at Nottingham Playhouse

Comedic, vulgar, and then heart-wrenching, it’s a brutally human display which Aisling Loftus delivers in her powerhouse one-woman performance of Girls and Boys.

The play, by awarded playwright Dennis Kelly — a VERY familiar name if you did your English Literature GCSE post-2010 — premiered in 2018 but is currently in its first visit to Nottingham, and will be at the Playhouse until March 1.

It begins as something of a black comedy with a not-quite picture perfect version of the age old ‘boy meets girl’ trope, delivered with impeccably witty timing and a lot of swearing.

It’s a queue for a delayed EasyJet flight out of Naples, the aforementioned girl has gone travelling spontaneously after a rough patch of sex, drugs, and alcohol — in a particularly ‘flatmate with drunk-enough benefits’ depressing way — and she takes an instant dislike to the man.

But, it morphs into a whirlwind romance, marriage, starting a family, juggling successful careers — everything perfectly laid out, a nuclear home unit, happiness — until it shatters.

This isn’t a love story. This is a harrowing account of family violence.

This is where Loftus really shines, if she hadn’t enough already. There’s a full spectrum of human emotion on that stage, as she narrates the collapse of this perfect life and the cruellest act which follows.

It’s bold, it’s brave, and she delivers it all with no one but herself and the anonymous faces of the audience to bounce off of.

She never loses pace, never falters in intense emotion, and she makes you feel like the unseen children, husband, obnoxious models in the airport, inspirational boss, the ‘lads’ from her husband’s company, are all right there on stage too.

It’s deeply personal, you leave feeling you know this nameless woman — for her lines in the script are literally attributed to ‘WOMAN’ — inside out, her entire life laid out in front of you, but it’s also like inspecting human behaviour through a magnifying glass.

One woman’s tragedy is made into a message for all.

Is society made for men? Is violence a necessary part of human nature?

This isn’t a lecture, there are no answers. But, Kelly’s writing forces you to consider, to delve into the less savoury thoughts we have, to question the human psyche and how well we really know those around us.

It’s also accompanied by stellar design. Loftus is stripped back with bare feet, vulnerable and unguarded, and her blue trousers and jumper don’t let her blend into the solid creamy-pink of her perfect family home — perhaps the first sign that the idyllic life isn’t reality, that something is off.

This is the work of designer Janet Bird, who has crafted a familiar yet impersonal backdrop which morphs as the story ekes closer to the hard truth, with the increasing coldness of the light, by lighting designer Matt Haskins, adding to this feeling.

This production of Girls and Boys is also a great show of Nottingham talent — Janet Bird first trained in stage design in the city, and Aisling Loftus was born here.