Break Up With Your Boyfriend is a new play from theatre company Scylla’s Bite, which was created to champion the voices of women and non-binary artists. This is a production that is both fun and serious, dealing with difficult subjects with sensitivity and heart.
The play takes place at the sleepover of two best friends, Cassie and Jo, which is soon disturbed by a phone call from Cassie’s boyfriend, who suddenly breaks up with her. This sends both characters on a journey of self-discovery and self-love.
Scenes throughout the show take place in a variety of locations or situations, which adds to the interest but at times get a little confusing, mainly in that it wasn’t always easy to tell how much time had passed from the break up, or if any time had passed at all. These situations include a cooking show (disrupted by a small technical difficulty that will hopefully be ironed out in further performances) and a scene where both characters are walking on treadmills. The scene with the treadmills worked well, and was a clever way of allowing both characters to have their chance to speak, however I felt that it went on almost a little bit too long.
I felt this with a few scenes throughout the play – often, what needed to be said could have been said quicker and with more punch. There were several scenes where just one of the characters was on stage doing a monologue, all of which felt slightly longer than necessary.
There were also a few scenes where the actors were sat on the floor. Because of the way the audience was seated, anyone not in the first row had difficulty in seeing what was going on in these moments. Not a major issue, and not particularly anyone’s fault, but it does cause you to feel somewhat removed from the play for a moment.
My other slight complaint is that one of my main reasons to see this play, other than that it looked fun (which it was), is that it was described online as ‘queer’. While we get to see some of Cassie’s dating life as a bisexual woman, in an important and very cleverly done scene, it isn’t until the very end that we get the big moment we were probably all expecting from the beginning. I don’t want to completely spoil the ending, but I’m sure if you are even slightly like me you will know exactly what I’m getting at. I also didn’t feel that this was necessarily a scene that was completely believable, as the chemistry of the characters didn’t entirely match. Despite this, I do think it worked well to have such a punchy and fun ending, I just wish there could have been a little more chemistry or hints towards this moment throughout.
Break Up With Your Boyfriend is an upbeat and honest play that is full of heart. I really enjoyed how it explored such complex and sensitive issues in an easy to watch way, while making reference to cultural and topical moments through music, set design and audience interaction. I’d really recommend paying a visit to Break Up With Your Boyfriend – just be warned that if you have a boyfriend, you may leave wanting to break up with him. I can’t wait to see what Scylla’s Bite have to offer next.
Break Up With Your Boyfriend is at Pleasance Courtyard (Beside) at 12.55pm until the 28 August (not 16). Tickets are available here
Image provided to The Student as press material.