The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The Shape of a girl
Dundee Rep/Bonar Hall May 5 and 7
THE TRAGIC effects of bullying haven’t been far from the media’s gaze recently, which makes this new onewoman production from Dundee Rep a timely but sad look into how young people treat one another and what they can do to help each other.
Receiving its debut performance in the UK here, The Shape of a Girl was written by Canadian playwright Joan MacLeod and first staged in 2001, taking inspiration from the brutal 1997 murder in British Columbia of teenager Reena Virk by her peers.
This version has been directed and produced by Dundee Rep Ensemble member Emily Winter with this year’s graduate Ensemble member Caroline Deyga in the lead role, following the suggestion of the play by the theatre’s artistic director Philip Howard.
“The Shape of a Girl is about a 15-year-old girl called Bradie who’s having issues at home and at school,” says Emily.
“It’s about that moral dilemma you can find yourself in at any point in life, but especially when you’re a teenager, when something’s happening which you know is wrong, but you don’t know where you stand in terms of loyalty to your friends and where you stand socially.
“Everybody wants to be accepted and liked.”
The play reflects the gang mentality that’s prevalent in society, says Emily, and takes the form of a letter that the lead character is writing to her brother, bouncing back and forth through her childhood as she tries to come to terms with and figure out the situation she finds herself in.
“It’s intense in some ways,” she says, “but because Bradie becomes 10 years old there’s a lot of fun in it as well.
“There will also be animated elements made for us by Sharon Campbell, the head of animation at Duncan of Jordanstone. So it’s got a bit of Adrian Mole in that respect.”
Despite the fact it was written by a Canadian, references to the country have been removed and Caroline is using her own accent, a reminder that these events could have happened anywhere.
“We want people to think about society and about what it is to be brave,” says Emily, who hopes to welcome adults and younger audiences to each performance.
“It’s easy to get caught up in how popular you are and who your friends are at that age, but when you see someone else going through the struggle of how to be a decent human being, you hope that rubs off on people.”
The Shape of a Girl will also tour to The Shore (June 11), Whitfield Community Centre (June 13), Carnoustie Drama Group @ Dibble Tree (June 14), Menzieshill Community Centre (June 20), Bharatiya Ashram (June 21), Hilltown Project @The Little Theatre (June 25), Douglas Community Centre (June 26), Finmill Community Centre (June 27) and Ardler Complex (June 28).