Ingenious.
We Weren’t Innocent, We Were Girls is a masterpiece. Going far beyond its seemingly simple plot, an American podcaster looking into the events leading to the murder of a teenage girl, Lucid Blue Stories will leave you utterly speechless. It is not a show so much as it is an all-consuming experience. Under director Freya Griffiths, an oscar-worthy cast brings Eleanor Boes’ intensely raw story to life. We Weren’t Innocent, We Were Girls is theater at its finest.
Eleanor Boes’ writing conveys an innate understanding of the complexity of human nature. Boes has taken a misleadingly standard plot and transformed it into a brilliant psycho-social study of group dynamics, manipulation, love, and suffering. The depth and distinct personalities of her characters demonstrates a masterful command of emotion and the intricacies of human relationships. My one criticism is the lack of sufficient warning prospective viewers are given on the intensity of this performance. The realism makes the portrayals of traumatic events, inclusive of sexual assault and physical and psychological abuse, incredibly difficult to bear witness to. It is a compliment to the creators of We Weren’t Innocent, We Were Girls but their press team should ensure that viewers are aware of the possible psychological toll.
Freya Griffiths is a gifted director. Her placement of the actors in the space and her prop-like use of podcaster Courtney Moreno were wonderful strokes of genius. Ryan Kingsbury’s lighting design combined with well-selected audio files created the perfect atmosphere for this distressing story. Each light change was carefully selected to convey the proper tone in each scene. Most impressive was the murder scene itself, which used intermittent lights, as well as a healthy dose of fake blood, to induce that heart-racing panic one usually gets watching a slasher film.
This is a remarkably gifted cast. Allie Aylott gave an unforgettable performance as Florence ‘Flo’ Clark. Her ability to embody Flo’s complex and unstable character was unnerving; with Aylott’s fragile intensity, Flo became a character much like Effy in Skins. Lucy-Lou Gallivan navigated her character’s (Daisy Wheelan) bewildering metamorphosis with practiced ease. Her portrayal was tinged with innocence and youth which, in this context, culminated in Wheelan’s timeless appearance of energy. Hannah Dootson as Hannah Bursley contributed stability, only so much as can be achieved by a teenage girl, to the mix. Her performance was emotional and elicited an intense empathy from the audience. Liv Hodder as Louise Burnsely epitomized the grief-stricken mother, enduring each stage of grief before our eyes. Declan Adamson, as Dylan Wheelan, embodied his character’s concerningly volatile nature, making viewers uncomfortable as soon as he entered. Sophie Reisner as Courtney Moren was so unlike the other characters that she became a novelty. She infused the show with a much needed lightness that made the audience laugh, in spite of themselves.
We Weren’t Innocent, We Were Girls is the most disconcerting and uncomfortable piece of theater I have ever watched, yet it is also one of the finest. Mastery is displayed in every aspect of this show; from the writing and directing to the acting and tech, faultless is the only word to describe it.
Boes’ We Weren’t Innocent, We Were Girls is genius.