Girls and Boys, Royal Court

Can we reboot this convo, please?

We were in Row B of the circle - same seats where we saw The Ferryman and they were fine for that. But for a one person show where the character stands centre stage 90% of the time, the raised bar which slightly restricts the view was a little more of an issue. Can't comment on first row, Theatrebass, - but Carey Mulligan's performance is exquisite and I would think the closer you could be the better.

We came away having found this a bit of a mixed bag. Wonderful to see an actor as resourceful, intelligent and nuanced as Mulligan giving such a rich, varied performance. Sections of the writing are wonderful - loved the description of a crowd waiting at an airport and another section describing a job interview. And yet .....the ending felt like a lecture or infomercial. There is a section where she repeats some physical actions (don't want to give too much away about this) and there is a revelation about these actions which I think should have been more of a theatrical coup than it turned out to be.

But I bought the script, have thought about the play a lot today and am very glad to have seen it.

I went to see it on Thursday. Possibly I had less info about the play upfront than some of the commenters above - I knew the name, the lead actress, the writer and the first line. So the shock factor was probably greater for me than for some of the audience. However I was completely, utterly bowled over by it. I thought Carey Mulligan was exceptional, but I also thought the script was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was a very hard watch at times for me ... without alluding to specifics, I think there should be some form of trigger warning. However overall I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I’ll be interested to see how reviewers write it up as it must be hard to comment without spoilers.

Started innocuously, pivoted on an almost throw away line half way through, and ended with a devastating last line.

As previously stated almost impossible to comment on without saying too much, my advice, keep away from spoilers and immerse yourself in the scintillating story telling.

For anyone who's been, would it be possible to ask a spoiler-free 'trigger' question?

We've just had a sudden/l illness-related death in the family, and I'm slightly worried that anything too close to that might be too much for my better half. No need for any details, but is there anything like this in the play?

Thanks so much for the info and quick response couldileaveyou.

I recall at the Almeida for a play recently (can't remember which one), there was a warning that there were balloons on stage.

With so many things affecting people nowadays, I wonder what they consider as being worthy of a trigger warning and what doesn't. Is there a list somewhere?

Oh I see. So it's about someone being allergic rather than just not liking or having a phobia about balloons? I thought it seemed odd at the time to be notified of balloons, that makes sense now I guess.

;-) It might be the latex, or globophobia - or I suppose they could suddenly pop, so loud bangs?

I do have a fear of latext popping. But that’s probably something different.

The consensus on twitter seems very positive, so I may be in the minority here, but this really didn't do much for me. I thought the acting was great, and loved the stage and use of light & colour. The first third or so was reasonably funny too, but that was about it.

In my opinion, the script simply wasn't strong enough to justify the change of focus to such an emotionally charged & sensitive topic midway through. The play deals with an undoubtedly important issue, but the structure felt too contrived and emotionally manipulative, and the twist felt overly telegraphed. By the end, the play also seemed to morph into a lecture.

Two and a half stars for me. Maybe three.

Oh, I should add that Carey Mulligan is a genius