Social media can form the ultimate barrier between parents and teenagers. With cyber bullies, FOMO and porn circling the internet, parents can feel an overwhelming need to control and to protect their children from the world around them. Sarah Rutherford’s new play, The Girl Who Fell explores the consequences of these influences on young minds.
…Or so it seems, anyway. Rutherford’s play initially follows the storyline of 15 year old Sam who commits suicide. She leaves behind her best friend, boyfriend and grieving mother who carry the leftover guilt and unanswered questions surrounding Sam’s death.
Sam’s mother, Thea is played with sensitivity by Claire Goose. She has become a shell of a person, and as a Prison Chaplain, is struggling with her faith as she questions where Sam has gone. Navin Chowdhry’s Gil charmingly strolls into her life, commenting on her elaborate ice cream order as she sits in her local cafe. Chowdhry is immediately likeable and lifts the heavy mood that seems to permeate throughout. 15 year old twins played by Rosie Day and Will Fletcher also add a playful element to the piece; constantly outmanoeuvring the other in their sibling squabbles.
Hannah Price’s direction does its best to navigate through the deeply sorrowful confessions to the witty banter that ebbs and flows throughout Rutherford’s play. However, it’s evident that this play is trying to cover too much ground. At first it seems like a play about teenage suicide and its link to social media use, but then it goes into “Me Too’” territory, then drug use, public shaming and abuse. The amount of reveals put in place to uncover all of these elements becomes almost farcical, when it should have been a stripped-back, simplistic play about the effects of social media and what it does to teenager’s mental health, and how parents handle it.
Rutherford’s play is well-intentioned, but desperately needs to make its message more concise.
Tess Kennedy
Tess Kennedy moved to London to be closer to her first love: theatre. It’s just a coincidence that she’s also now much closer to her second love, Idris Elba. During the week, Tess is a Social Media Manager, but in her spare time she enjoys reading, singing, yoga, pina coladas — although she can take or leave getting caught in the rain. Tess has been writing for Upper Circle since January 2019, where she’s seen more Fringe than Jonathan Van Ness, as well as plenty of one-woman-shows and musicals. Although she’s a big fan of the musical genre, Tess draws the line at Cats. That’s not because she’s a dog person though – Tess loves her family cats more than most humans – it’s because the visual of Idris Elba meowing in a skintight leotard gave her paws for thought.
