G @ Royal Court - Review

A gripping, surreal play encapsulating teenage cringe, but tough on the brain. ★★★★

At Royal Court until 21st September.

Tickets from £15.

Rating: ★★★★

G is a weird play to watch. For much of the 75 minutes, I was not having a good time, but it wraps up so fantastically that I left the theatre in a great mood despite the headache.

The play centres aroung three teenagers and an urban legend- Baitface, a ghostly, summonable figure who will steal your face (and maybe memories?) if you walk underneath hanging white trainers. The characters are loveable idiots, cringe-worthy teens that are so well written and acted that any adult will recognise their younger self. Kai is an entrpreneurial prefect who sells KA to other kids; Khaleem his half brother has a crush and is firmly in the “emotions are for losers” phase of being 18; Joy is hard to describe without spoilers, but will be an extremely relatable character for a certain segment of the audience.

The plot of the play is consistently confusing, with the timeline often impossible to track, but this is clearly intentional. Tife Kusuro is clearly a playwrite that likes messing with her audience. Beyond confusion, there are plenty of other signs of this- we’re brought to the edge of a horrible cliche teen movie plot choice; there’s a false ending; light audience participation. All this adds novelty and uniqueness to what could be a very cliche story if played straight, and brings us along the journey of piecing together a night with the characters. The plot twist is predictable but not bad, and fits well with the themes of Black masculinity, urban surveillance and community in the play.

Thematically, this is a play that trusts the audience, which is especially admirable as this play has all the markings of a GCSE English/Drama classic in the future. It is clearly a play commenting on racialised policing, on Black boys being treated like men far too early, on the social construction of the criminal, but at no point are we spoon-fed this. No character helpfully monologues about it, and ghost story is front and centre.

The acting is exceptional. Aided by realistic school uniform costuming, all three adult actors portraying teenagers pull it off naturally and without infantilisation. Kadeisha Belgrave, playing Joy, is particularly impressive, with lines that rely heavily on tone and physicality.

Aesthetically, interesting choices were made. There is a lot of interpretive dance, that fits the ghost story vibe, but often goes on too long and is not especially physically impressive. The staging and music choices are overstimulating, and make it a bit harder for the audience to understand what is going on. Wording crucial to the plot is projected down onto the stage, making good use of a small space, but also it hard to read from certain angles and inaccessible to some viewers. Loud music playing from before the play started in combination with heavy use of bright and changing lights makes it one to avoid if you are prone to sensory overstimulation. I did leave with a physical headache as someone somewhat sensitive but not medically advised to avoid any of the noted warnings.

Unless the light, sound or reading will be a barrier to you, G is absolutely one to see. It is short and punchy, with loveable characters and a plot that ties up well enough by the end. I will be particularly interested to see how this play is recieved by audiences the same age as the protagonists, rather than those of us old enough to feel protective of them.