Review: ROLEPLAY, Soho Theatre

The producers who brought you Fleabag and Baby Reindeer are trying to trap lighting in a bottle again. Francesca Moody Productions is joined by Global Creatures (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) this time to present their new potential hit. Written and performed by Hannah Reilly under Paige Rattray’s direction, ROLEPLAY is the kind of mouthy satire that would have made a major splash some ten years ago.

How can you be true to yourself when feminism is a commodity, your brand is everything, and sex is only the means to an end? Regrettably, Reilly doesn’t add much to the conversation. She introduces a character, Danni, who’s given the opportunity to become the next big thing in the sex-positive podcasting world. Her life spins out of control, she loses sight of herself, she drinks too much, does too many drugs, squanders everything, makes amends. Fin. 

From stressy encounters with emotional Doms in private dungeons at 10 in the morning to the standard mother-daughter strife, the piece touches upon everything and nothing. Reilly’s scathing observational comedy is unoriginal but very relatable, as the societal analysis in it is always relevant with its look at the objectification of women and the weaponisation of sexual desire. Mostly, she reiterates the modern millennial middle class struggle.

However, lipstick feminism doesn’t get you too far, so ROLEPLAY ultimately doesn’t say anything. Reilly’s writing is commendable; its conversational and confessional qualities match Reilly’s crisp charisma to introduce an instantly endearing character. Her delivery – in spite of her penchant for upspeak – is stronger than the actual script, which is rather predictable in both narrative and language. This said, her one-liners can be razor sharp and quite witty here and there.

As Danni tries hard to become someone she’s not, attention gets to her head. Sex becomes her personality, but ROLEPLAY isn’t as edgy as it may think it is. It’s that safe risqué we’ve learnt to accept from commercial theatre. The more prude will gasp at Reilly’s topless entrance and giggle at the mention of kink, but there’s no real exploration of sex work, or BDSM, or anything relating to the themes it supposedly portrays. 

Yet, amid the convoluted personality and the utterly formulaic plot, we find some moments of depth that could have been expanded and exploited. Danni muses on the death of #MeToo and comes to terms with coercive control – it’s such a shame that these really important bits are buried underneath an excessive amount of frivolity. Just like its protagonist, the show fails to hold on to its own identity. Reilly is fun, but we’ve seen all of this before

ROLEPLAY runs at Soho Theatre (Dean Street) until 21 November