REVIEW: Going Places (King’s Head Theatre) ★★★

Going Places is a short play written, directed and performed by Jane Ryan and Billie Collinson that looks at the roles women play in the workplace and their attempts to escape their reality.

Helen (Collinson) and Claire (Ryan) work together in an office surrounded by computers, papers, shredders and printers. It’s not clear what they do but Helen is very busy and does not appreciate Claire’s attempts at small talk or the snide comments from her (unseen) female boss. Through a series of sketches we see the daily office grind juxtaposed with the day dreams and come to learn why Helen is so keen to stay busy.

Collinson and Ryan have created a world familiar to many office workers who have wished their days away and they work well together to bring it to life. There are some serious messages mixed with the funnier moments and lighting is used well to switch between the office strip lighting and the softer tones of the imagined world. The play is accompanied by the words of Serena Braida’s poem, ‘Women and Capital’, taking on a sinister tone.

The characters in this play could be developed into a longer piece to explore the issues of women at work in more depth. These young performers are ones to watch.

Reviewed by Rhiannon Evans

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