Photo Credit: Richard Davenport
With it being my first visit to the York Theatre Royal, I entered the studio with slight reservation, wondering whether such a small space could host a truly dynamic play. However, less than five minutes in, I realised that this doubt was entirely unfounded. Together, writer Frazer Flintham and director Jane Fallowfield offered a 90 minute master class on the perils of media, for which I have nothing but praise.
The story itself is set in Acomb, and follows 14 year old Chelsea’s quest to turn her complicated life into an exciting reality drama, with the help of her best friends Dionne and Lee. TakeOver Residency Award winner The Only Way is Chelsea’s, as hinted in the title, explores the highs and lows of being “Facebook famous” and is perfectly summarised by the flyer: “a funny, dark but touching tale about one girl’s quest to re-invent her own reality.”
Laura Elsworthy (Chelsea), Tanya Vital (Dionne) and James Cooney (Lee) fully embrace Frazer’s meticulous scripting, morphing into three archetypes of teenage angst. My total inadvertence to the actors’ actual ages was further evidence of their clearly in-depth character research; in the post-show Q&A, Frazer explained how they had run 10 workshops in various schools and clubs in York in order to achieve this realism.
Set and Costume Designer Mila Sanders had done a fantastic job with such a limited space, constructing a convincing garage out of cardboard boxes and old furniture, employing the glow of a single naked bulb for lighting. Costume and scene changes were swift and faultless, with audio clips of the workshops’ discussion distracting you from the unavoidable rearrangement of props.
I struggled to find anything truly critical to say about the play, crediting what I thought was a marginally slow start to my lack of local knowledge; it would be intriguing to hear whether the audience in the Soho Theatre, London will feel disengaged due to the topical references to schools and areas in the city of York.
With consistent acting and thorough speech, movement and expression, it was hard not to be swept along by the trio’s thoughtful yet humorous exploration of taboos such as sex, pornography and homosexuality. It would be a true infringement if I did not end this review with the choice words of James’ character: it was “weeny good.”