The title of this play by Jack Thorne might be misleading in Edinburgh where provocative or simply rude words are employed to get bums on seats. But if you come expecting some kind of camp cabaret or sketch show you will be disappointed. This is a serious play about one of the most serious subjects of all.
As the show started we are confronted by two actresses playing two eleven-year-old girls. They role-play and behave for the most part like normal kids, but there is something not quite right. Theres neediness and a weird tension. They give themselves the names Fanny and Faggot, talk about becoming blood sisters and about their slightly different family backgrounds. Faggots mother it transpires is not only a prostitute, but her speciality is making her kid watch while she services the punters.
Theres a real menace in the room, heightened by the simple backdrop of graffiti indicating very disturbed minds indeed. As the young girls game playing is intercut with scenes from a trial in which both actresses (Sophie Fletcher plays Fanny, Elicia Daly is Faggot) take it in turns to also play judges and barristers, we slowly become aware that these two kids are guilty of a terrible crime. When the verdict is read out, Faggot gets a severe sentence and rightly so, for we discover at this point that she is notorious child killer Mary Bell.
Thence the action moves forward ten years to a Blackpool hotel. Mary has escaped with a friend from her open prison, but only for the weekend. Shes on the verge of parole anyway, and the two girls have picked up a couple of soldiers on leave from a tour of duty in Northern Ireland. I found this second section, performed completely naturalistically unlike the first act, much less compelling. It almost feels like a different play. Steve Keyworth directs well, and all the performances were strong. The play has interesting things to say about perception (Bells co-murder only got three months probation because she had a better dressed mother, is the implication), and about how someone finds a sense of self when they are defined by one extraordinary event.
For me the piece slightly fizzles out and the strange and dark atmosphere of the first half dissipated, and I even wondered if the two acts could be played in reverse order. However, the Lifeboat TC and writer Thorne must be commended for daring to deal with this difficult subject with sensitivity, compassion and even some humour.
