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Playfight

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  3w

Julia Grogan

Informed by the rise in violence in mainstream pornography and the ‘rough sex defence’, Playfight interrogates the dangerous reality of the hyper-sexualisation and exploitation of young people.

Playfight

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Teen (Age 14-18)
Accolades
Accolades

  • Winner! 2020 Experienced Theatre Practitioners Early Playwriting Trust (ETPEP) award
    Shortlisted for the Papatango Award, the Theatre Uncut Award and The Women’s Prize for Playwriting
    Nominee: London Pub Theatres Standing Ovation Award

Details

Summary

“No one likes crusty knickers and a broken heart. But that’s just life, isn’t it?”

Three friends grow up under an ancient tree. They’re filthy, brutal and full of hope. By turns hysterical and poignant, Playfight is a searing probe of their inner lives as they hunt for love. Proper, ugly love. As their roots sink deeper, the branches stretch higher... so they decide to climb.

The multi-award-winning team of playwright Julia Grogan, Theatre Uncut and Grace Dickson Productions present Playfight, shining a vivid light on adolescent desire in a landscape of rising sexual violence.

Publishing in conjunction with the run at Roundabout at Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe from 1st August.

History
Playfight was first produced by Grace Dickson Productions and Theatre Uncut at Paines Plough’s Roundabout at Summerhall, as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024.
Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
KEIRA – She’s explosive and electric in her vulgarity. Her capacity for extreme emotion means she has an animalistic approach to love and loyalty. She would take on a thousand armies for her mates. Loudest in any room, she’s like a stand up set on a stage that could collapse any second.
ZAINAB – Pragmatic, methodical and mature. She’s not a prude, she’s Earth.
LUCY – She’s like a cloud with legs. Receptive, eager to learn and vulnerable in her curiosity. Perhaps Lucy fell out of a rabbit hole, or she’s just a product of someone poked about by a Church. Either way, she has a brightness. She’s Air.
  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting

    The base of an oak tree in a town in the West Midlands. The present.

  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 75 Minutes

Media

“Direct and disarming.” – The Stage

“Evocative piece on female adolescence.” – Fest Magazine

“Stunningly accomplished.” – The Guardian

“A distinct voice.” – The Reviews Hub

“Grogan’s dialogue is frank and funny.” – The Stage

“Julia Grogan has squeezed every ounce out of the experience of girlhood and laid it bare in all its cruelty, ugliness, uncertainty and delight in this marvellous jewel of a play.” – The Times

“It’s evident Grogan not only has something to say, but she is able to articulate it in an entirely fresh and distinctive way.” – The Upcoming

“The main strength of Julia Grogan’s script is the way she differentiates the characters and gets us inside their dialogue so convincingly.” – WhatsOnStage

“This is one of the most honest portrayals of life as a young woman that I have seen in a very long time. – A Younger Theatre

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

2024 Edinburgh Fringe Spotlight
Matt Law
30 July 2024

Licensing & Materials



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Authors

Julia Grogan

Julia Grogan
Julia Grogan trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College, graduating in 2018. She joined the Royal Court Writers’ Group and went on to write her debut play, Playfight. The play won the ETPEP Award 2020, and was shortlisted for the Papatango Award, the Theatre Uncut Award and ...
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