Fangirls, Queensland Theatre/Brisbane Festival (QLD)
eenagers – adults often look at them, perplexed. Even when we really want to understand them and feel for them, sometimes the communication barrier is too thick. Fangirls opens a peephole into the tumultuous inner world of a teenage girl grappling with her emotions. Edna, a 14-year-old girl, has a crush on Harry, the singer of the world’s biggest boyband. Edna’s world revolves around this impossible love: her mood is dictated by the images of Harry that she sees on social media; Harry is at the centre of Edna’s conversations with her friends; and while under pressure to keep her scholarship, Edna writes fanfiction about Harry as a way of enacting her daydreams. Fangirls does an excellent job of presenting the indomitable world of teenage girls’ emotions. Yve Blake is commendable as Edna. She perfectly conveys teenage frustration with her elongated words, especially her howling of “maaaam” when her mum (Sharon Millerchip) enters her room. Edna’s friends Jules (Chika Ikogwe) and Brianna (Kimberley Hodgson) bring to life the complications of teenage friendship fraught with social media, peer competition, and shame for a changing body that does not fit societal expectations. And Salty (James Majoors), Edna’s friend whom she interacts with only via screen, reminds us of the positive applications of technology in allowing us to stay connected despite distance.
