School is a subject which is notorious for being badly portrayed on stage and screen. From the ridiculously chiselled heartthrob actors (all pushing 40) in US cinema, to shows getting off on taboos of underage sex and drug abuse. Even those lauded as more realistic usually miss something for me.
Playfight, on the other hand, is eerily familiar. Throughout the performance I keep flashing back to points in my own life, the characters becoming the school friends I haven’t seen in years. Its such an intricately balanced production. It has all the humour, stupidity, naivety, and melodrama of those years, so unlike any other.
Playfight’s three friends grow up together under the branches of an looming tree. Revelations, traumas, and secrets are spilled under its foliage. The girls are desperate for love and understanding. They turn to each other to survive the judgements of others. Well, each other and the tree, which is the pillar of every scene; watching everything and holding their weight as they reach up and away from the ground, away from their problems.
Playfight is so real, so true. It’s all I can think about for hours after I leave the make-shift theatre in Summerhall’s courtyard. It’s a show I know will stay with me for some time to come. The love between the girls is so palpable, their struggles ones I know too well. Perfectly acted and brilliantly written, it’s a real masterpiece. If you’ve time to see one more show before Fringe is over, I think you should make it this one. I would choose it over almost any other I’ve seen this month.
Playfight, ROUNDABOUT @ Summerhall, 17:30, until August 26.