Scenes with Girls

Golden Goose Theatre

Playing until 3rd May 2025

Book tickets

Photo credit: Herbie Barlow

{AD-Gifted tickets}

Miriam Battye’s Scenes with Girls is a sharp, funny, and tender dissection of a battle as old as girlhood itself: platonic versus romantic love. In a world that teaches young women that finding the ‘one’ is the ultimate goal, Battye poses two urgent questions: does sex with crushes trump deep, soul-baring friendship? And do you want, or do you simply want to be wanted? These questions pulse through the beating heart of T. Regina Theatre Co.’s production, even if the execution doesn’t always land.

Directed by Artistic Director, Alex Stroming, the show hums with energy from start to finish. Even as the audience trickle in, Tosh (Lyndsey Ruiz) and Lou (Hannah Renar) shriek with abundant giddiness in their shared bedroom: a pre-show device to establish the tone of the production. It’s a chaotic, high-energy beginning — a sensory barrage of anecdotes about lovers, sexual conquests, and inside jokes. Stroming’s interpretation here is justified — reflecting a particular view of girlhood that emphasises a sense of gay abandon; however, given that Battye’s characters are meant to be 24, this energy reads much younger; more teenage sleepover than mid-twenties crisis.

The chemistry between the two leads is undeniable. Their performances are buoyant and fizz with bold choices. Ruiz and Renar capture their contrasting shades of girlhood: Lou, sexually confident and desperate to be desired vs. Tosh: fiercely protective and increasingly disillusioned. Yet, the production feels trapped in a heightened register that ultimately works against Battye’s razor-sharp text. There’s an over-reliance on exaggerated movement and cartoonish voices — devices that suggest a nervousness about letting the words do the heavy lifting. Battye’s writing doesn’t need this embellishment; it sings best when left to breathe.

The arrival of Fran (Elinor Rose-Cooper), their firmly coupled-up, hilariously sincere friend, is the show’s undeniable highlight. She slices through Tosh and Lou’s shared fantasies with a brilliant mix of cluelessness and grounded wisdom, offering a sobering counterpoint to their insular world. Rose-Cooper’s delivery delights and surprises the audience at every turn. Her stage presence is markedly strong as she calmly injects scenes with welcomed juxtaposition and tension.

As Tosh grows increasingly resentful of Lou’s pursuit of romantic validation, cracks begin to show. However, the shift from sisterly devotion to bitter jealousy isn’t given quite enough breathing room to fully convince. When the emotional stakes rise towards the end, however, the play finds real strength. The scenes of conflict feel rightfully devastating and the scales of heightened emotion balance as the stakes are raised. In these moments, you feel the gut-wrenching collapse of a world built from shared dreams and secrets. Sadly, this powerful momentum is slightly undercut by Lou’s exaggerated descent into ‘madness’, which veers into caricature.

Technically, the production is slick. The lighting design is sharp and facilitates the pace of the storytelling without overwhelming it. The set is jam-packed: a flat scattered with memories, keep-sakes and ‘girl mess’ that smartly facilitates the action, allowing the claustrophobic intensity of Tosh and Lou’s bond to seep into every corner of the space.

Scenes with Girls is a vibrant, searching piece that captures the intoxicating highs and devastating lows of female friendship. This production captures much of that spirit — even if at times it gets caught in its own performance.

Creatives

Director: Alex Stroming

Voice coach: Meighread Dandeneau 

Lighting designer: Phil Hamilton 

Designer: Emily Nelson

Technical Stage Manager: Jessie Potts