Theatre review – Some Girl(s) at Theatro Technis

Neil LeBute’s play Some Girl(s) is currently being presented by Tower Theatre at fringe venue Theatro Technis in Camden. It tells the story of an up-and-coming journalist tracking down five of his ex-girlfriends in an attempt to bring a catharsis on his conscience.

Gigi Robarts directs the play with the necessary candor and simplicity for such a production. The impressive feat of using a limited number of props to create five distinctly different hotel bedrooms is achieved with aplomb.

It is a pity then that the play itself is not composed as well as the sets are. The playwright attempts a visual metaphor with the protagonist’s love life, which appears as repetitive as the scenery of the hotel room. Unfortunately, the metaphor is also analogous  with the fact that the play itself is as monotonous as the principle character’s sex life and the hotel rooms he drifts through. The story is an unsurprising paint-by-numbers story about a man (played adeptly by Laurence Ward) billed only as Man. He portrays the stereotypical male who apparently means well but despises women, gleaning satisfaction from treating them as objects.

The five supporting female roles are performed by Helen Corbett, Michellle Cameron, Lisa Camm, Ottillie Parfitt and Tiffany Lashley – each portraying a different femme fatale. All of them are intrigued and cryptically aroused by Man’s intentions to meet with them. They are all summarily rebuked by the end of their 20 minute stage time by a series of deus ex machina that neatly concludes each scene.

This cut and dry technique becomes predictable and tedious after the first three scenes, each increasing any vague intrigue about the main character only fractionally – until the last two, where the action ramps up dramatically. The play takes a strange detour into homage with a direct salute to The Graduate, which feels somewhat mishandled and is essentially a wild step to get the pay off at the end of the scene. This penultimate scene is followed by a dramatic final shouting contest that concludes the play with answers left swiftly and underwhelmingly answered, and a final feeling of injustice and sympathy towards men-kind.

Verdict: ••

Andrew Collins

Some Girl(s) is on at the Theatro Techinis until 16^th February 2013, for further information or to book tickets visit here.