The small, intimate Old Fitz theatre seemed like the perfect place to premiere She Threaded Dangerously, a bold new play by Simon Thomson and Emma Wright. The story follows four friends in an all-girl’s High School as they navigate the complicated dynamics of friendship, loyalty, and supressed desire, blinding them to the dangers around them.
The ensemble story jumps between each of the four girls as they wrestle with adolescence, sexual desire, and power dynamics, often putting them in conflict with each other. At the centre is a substitute male P.E. teacher some of the girl’s find attractive and dare each other to flirt with. They invite two boys from their twin all-boys school to a private party to drink and flirt, sparking rivalries and division. While skipping class, one of the girl’s meets an adult jogger who calls her an old soul. He strikes up what she believes is just friendly banter that makes her feel seen. Claiming to be a police officer, his manipulative grooming from a position of trust and power is uncomfortably insidious. The male characters balanced each other a little too obviously, with the two younger characters, and two older characters, each a pair of contrasting expressions of masculinity and authority put into conflict with the girls.
The story felt rushed, often moving along at such an exhausting pace it was hard to follow the banter being thrown around between the girls. Sometimes their screaming and yelling was a bit too loud for the tiny Old Fitz theatre and my ears were bleeding. Much like a High School, I guess. While the deeper themes are dark and uncomfortable, the various story threads could have used more depth or be taken in a surprising direction. Once you knew where each story was going it was predictable.
Karrine Kanaan, Alyssa Peters, and Larissa Turton do a great job as the girls, along with Claudia Elbourne, who also directs. Each embodied their characters convincingly, as did the supporting cast of Hamish Alexander, Michael Yore, and Leon Walshe. I particularly liked the sound design by Alexander Lee-Rekers, who created an intense soundscape mixed with music that reinforced the drama and chaos. Laila McCarthy’s set also worked beautifully in the limited space, using only a few carefully selected props and set pieces to craft a variety of locations that leaned into the power of theatrical imagination.
She Threaded Dangerously is an uncomfortable yet important exploration of teenage girls navigating a complex world of desire, power, and friendship, currently playing at the Old Fitz Theatre as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival until the 27th of September.
To book tickets to She Threaded Dangerously, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/she-threaded-dangerously.
Photographer: Karla Elbourne
