Review: SHEWOLVES, Pleasance Courtyard

Lou and Priya (Harriet Waters and Gurjot Dhaliwal) are teenagers on a mission. Deciding to perform a school strike to raise awareness about climate change, Lou fancies herself her town's answer to Greta Thunberg, scowl and all.

The two form a fast yet squabbly friendship and compare notes on their lives, from the parenting tactics of their mothers to their favourite sleepover snacks. When Lou's climate strike lands her in a spot of bother, Priya, not quite as activist but fond of the idea of skiving, suggests that they run away together. They vow to become Shewolves-in-arms in their war against climate change and domestic change, for Priya's home life has recently taken a turn for the sinister.

Sarah Middleton's writing brilliantly balances the micro and macro throughout: the daily irritants that push the teenager's buttons are presented alongside Lou's larger concern for the future of the planet. Dhaliwal as Priya embodies the sense that everything is a potential nuisance to her, with extreme levels of youthful whinging and expert eye-rolling. She is a delight to watch. Waters performs Lou's battle between her swotty anxiety about getting in trouble and her genuine concern for the planet with just the right amount of "stick up her bum" (to borrow Priya's words).

Lou and Priya's adventure is a joy to watch. Laughs are plentiful, and the whip-smart direction of Hannah Stone ensures the audience is drawn into their exhilarating miniature quest for climate justice (and more pop tarts).

An hour of exhilarating drama with a smidgen of silliness.

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