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FLUSH

 
Gillian Bain Review by Gillian Bain 4 Published: 8 Aug 2025 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

A women’s toilet in a nightclub – otherwise known as a sacred gathering spot for universal sisterhood. Flush takes us behind closed (cubicle) doors rarely seen with sober eyes, to a space where women can build each other up just as much as they can tear each other down. It showcases a coming together to show the power of womanhood and the importance of community – just like women’s loos up and down the country.

Completely horrifying to witness – but vital in its existence

The first half of this performance is a straightforward, character-driven comedy. Groups of different women – a hen do, a work night out and teens who have snuck in – come and go from the bathrooms, talking about their lives and the night they are having. The humour is excellent and the characters strike the perfect balance between archetypal parodies and gals you could imagine finding down your local on any given Saturday. Conversation touches on many feminist hot topics such as plastic surgery, sexting and body image, providing relevant and well-placed commentary. Each of the groups reappears throughout the night as their stories unfold and the tone grows darker. Well every group other than the trans woman and her bisexual bestie, who appear only once and quite briefly. I can understand, with the significant transphobic rhetoric going on around trans women in bathrooms, wanting to touch on this to show its support. However, having it as such a brief tag-on felt like a missed opportunity. That said, there are only so many issues that can be explored within a one-hour fringe slot.

One in four women over the age of 16 have been sexually assaulted, according to Rape Crisis. Flush puts the culture surrounding the sexual coercion of women and girls under an unflinching, uncomfortable microscope. When the performance was done and the tears were wiped from the eyes of both audience and cast, the pack-up began. I looked at the graffiti on the set pieces of the cubicle toilets, mainly feminist slogans mixed with sexualised insults. As I was taking it in, a member of the audience stopped one of the actors in her tracks: “Why didn’t she go to the police?” A question asked so many times of so many women. In that moment, it struck me how vital it is that plays like this are still being made and watched. Completely horrifying to witness – but vital in its existence.

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The Blurb:

April Hope Miller's debut play is a fiercely relevant and urgent exploration of the sanctity of sisterhood, set within the seemingly mundane yet magical space of the ladies bathroom. This wildly funny yet profoundly moving piece dives deep into the lives of different women, navigating their shared vulnerabilities, triumphs and frustrations. Through one woman's experience of assault, FLUSH examines how women rally around each other in moments of crisis and catharsis. FLUSH's complex and relatable characters reflect universal truths about growing up, forming friendships and negotiating societal expectations and will resonate long after the final flush.