Portmanteau’s production of Let’s Get Angry was an immersive piece that shared real life adolescent experiences and tried to look at reasons behind adolescent angst. The piece consisted of two girls, Sophie and Melissa, who told stories through a plethora of Brechtian theatrical elements, but this was at times chaotic and a little ambitious for a play that lasted just over half an hour.
Without a doubt, the breaking of the fourth wall was well executed. There was immediate interaction with the audience as we were invited to share our own adolescent experiences with the girls. We were asked to write down personal teenage memories and reminisce over our adolescent antics, which provided humour and audience unity.
The common stereotype of adolescents as messy, opinionated and generally angry with the world was amusing to watch, as Melissa mimed a pop song fanatically and flailed around the stage. This typecast was later argued as we began to see Melissa and Sophie as mouthpieces of adolescents who simply just want to be heard, but feel constrained by society’s misconceptions of their abilities and ingenuity. This was delivered through dance sequences which provided moments of intensity, but it was a shame that these poignant moments were limited.
Addressing the London Riots was the perfect and fitting example to explore a prominent time when adolescents rebelled in order to be heard by society. However, the narration was very rushed and a little perplexing. The mixture of video footage, dance sequences, verbatim and audience interaction made the show diverse but at times unsettling to watch.
Overall, an interesting topic that had real potential to make a standout show, but I came out feeling indifferent. They tried too hard to deliver a thought provoking piece but in my opinion, it was too chaotic and there was too much register in such a short amount of time.
