BREATHE

We often see the traditional rite of passage story from a male perspective; any women present are either relegated to the fringes of the story, where they occupy the space of worried wives or neglected girlfriends, or are not present at all. Talented, London based, Italian playwright Lulu Pollice was determined to address this trend with this beautifully written, witty and perceptive piece on the difficult transition from childhood to the adult world from a female perspective. Entitled Breathe, this beautiful play charts the lives of four very different flatmates, living together in London, all struggling to make this painful transition and find a way to leave their prolonged adolescence behind.

The central character is Maria, played by Zoe Templeman-Young who gives the knock out performance of the evening, a young woman who has struggled with extreme anxiety since childhood but who now finds the choices she must make to move on with her life so overwhelming that she has retreated into a depression, one she is struggling to emerge from. A constant trigger for her despair is her wild, irresponsible friend Sophie, a friend who instead of helping Maria emerge from her darkness simply helps to feed it. By encouraging her drug use and by being a constant wild child presence her example encourages Maria to retreat even further from the real world.

One of the other two characters making up this quartet is the Tinder dating app obsessive, Eddie. A sweet, budding entrepreneur who seems to be ever so gradually inching his own way to maturity only to retreat when the possibility of a new date appears. And the final figure who in many ways presides over this motley crew is Rachel (played beautifully played by Olivia Valler-Feltham) a twenty five year old who seems mature beyond her years. So much so that she seems to be heading for spinsterhood, in that she appears to have pushed life away. She is very protective of Maria and very antagonistic toward Sophie, all too well aware of Sophie's destructive effect on her friend.

A theme which is explored throughout the play is that of loneliness. Each character has a desire to reach out from their self-imposed prisons but are in turn terrified about what they may find. In many ways they each represent a generation very much at odds with the world they are forced to inhabit, a world they don't recognize and one which at times simply seems to have no place for them. We observe this with Maria in particular, retreating to her bedroom where she finds security in her tiger print pyjamas. A metaphor for a childhood she is terrified to leave behind.

Breathe is very much a multi media production with hilarious clips from the series Friends interspersed at key moments, highlighting perhaps the gulf between the life these confused twenty-something imagined they would have at this stage in their lives and their more chaotic reality.

It's fascinating to see in particular how, as a European playwright, Pollice so expertly captures young Londoners. Their fears, their anxieties and their reluctance to dream, since they fear these would only end in failure. Better to retreat into our small little worlds rather then dare venturing out into the unknown. Breathe also highlights the fact that having too many choices can almost be worse than having none, which Maria clearly illustrates since she feels almost paralysed by life's possibilities. Any steps she could and should take to become a published author, she simply retreats from. The title in many ways is very appropriate since each character seems to be afraid to simply breathe.

Pollice is very much an open hearted author, one who feels a real sense of empathy for her characters. You feel that she wishes them all well in their life's journey and ultimately hopes they find a way to navigate past their neuroses and find happiness, which ultimately they do. The play allows you to cheer Maria on when she is finally free from Sophie's negative influence and emerges from her pyjamas to embark on a job interview and possibly even have an editor read her finished manuscript. And the judgemental Rachael chooses life and love in the form of a relationship with the newly mature Eddie, something which surprises them both. It's only Sophie who is left lost in her self-destructive escape. But now imprisoned drug dealing, you feel her situation will force a much needed reality check.

Breathe is a beautifully observed and ultimately hopeful play for our times, with a message which is that for twenty some-things, the adult world might appear scary but running away from it isn't really an option. You just might find you can join it on your own terms.

Breathe also highlights what London theatre will lose when it finally leaves the European Union, a pool of talent along with a fresh perspective, which is so needed in London theatre today, a theatre scene which at times can be almost criminally inward looking.

FΩRMIdea London, 23rd February 2018.