Overall, this is not an imaginative production. Here, she only faces continued harassment and the resurgence of her nude photograph, before delivering a monologue on the history of feminist activism and non-conformity within her own family. The narrative eventually culminates in widespread victimisation of Scarlett until she moves school, leaving the “St Helen’s girls” behind. Later, a male pupil (Russell) has his naked photograph spread throughout the school, and since this is a play with a very specific message for a very specific audience, he faces no negative social consequences. The boys, played also by the ensemble of female actors, are depicted as a gaggle of casual, insecure misogynists, lazily chatting about their desire to “tap” Scarlett whilst victimising one boy, Jay, who initially refuses to look at the photograph. But it’s not just the girls that are thrown into chaos by Scarlott’s photographs. She is transformed into something of a social pariah at one point in the play, she is described as “Scarlett the Harlot”. The play highlights how the widespread exposure of Scarlett’s image shatters the “fragile unity of the girls she has grown up with”. The ensemble of girls that make up the cast are depicted as gloating over the supposed flaws in the circulating image, as each girl declares that “I feel good”, whilst marking out Scarlett’s weight or the shape of her body. Things rapidly spiral out of control for one girl, Scarlett, when a naked photograph of her goes viral and she finds herself at the mercy of the other girls’ cruelty. Girls Like That follows a collection of young girls, who, attend the same school and develop a toxic and ultimately detrimental ecosystem for one another to live in, where each individual girl knows her place in the pecking order. So, with that out of the way, lets take a look at the story. Just look at the most recent season of Thirteen Reasons Why. However, just because this play is politically conscious or, to quote Baker herself: “ So relevant-there’s so much in the media about this stuff at the moment“, does not make it interesting to watch.
Yes, I think that it’s a very good idea to take productions such as these to audiences that might not normally get access to politically conscious entertainment. Now, before you grab your pitchforks and torches- yes, I know that the play focuses on some very important issues that really do need greater scrutiny. Even though I might fall into this one-act piece of collective narration and didactic direct mode of address‘ typical age demographic, I have never cared for this play, nor have I cared for Esther Baker’s directorial vision. Evan Placey’s “urgent and explosive” play, Girls Like That, won the title of Best Play for Young Audiences in 2015.
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