A brightly comic and honest exploration into 2014 girlhood.
In her one-woman show, Sarah Saxby interrogates growth into girlhood, amidst an era of rising misogyny, Tumblr and growing pressures on appearances due to an ever-growing online rabbit hole for teenagers to fall down into.
And down the rabbit hole Saxby’s protagonist falls, opening with an innocently youthful and nostalgic dance routine to ‘Boom Clap’ while Saxby plays Just Dance, warming the audience’s hearts and drawing them into Saxby’s world.
It’s a world of bra fittings and feminism. Trying to be a woman, but not knowing quite how or what ‘woman’ is. It’s also a world where young girls face sexual pressure. Un-Consensual bum squeezes and exposure to oversexualised internet adverts, weigh in on fourteen-year-old Saxby who is determined to be feminist. Saxby wrestles with these feelings of guilt and shame in enjoying male attention in a moment that is poignant and deeply thought provoking.
Throughout the hour, Saxby holds the crowd with control, slightly dipping in areas, when she plays with the tech desk in moments that are playful but maybe distracting from the piece’s momentum.
In general, Saxby delivers a high octane and energetic piece which finds you relating to and reflecting on your fourteen-year-old self. With great comedic energy, Saxby appeals to the part of us who can’t help but wish to run away with Harry Styles to an unnamed American city in a cathartic hour where her fourteen-year-old self is both resurrected and laid down to rest.