REVIEW: Posh (in exactly 250 words)
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| By
Harriet Wilson
Posh, currently playing at the Pleasance Theatre (London), is a play that you could dissect, analyse, and write essays on. It is often in small, understated venues that you find the most interesting productions – and, above all, Posh is certainly interesting.
Posh is a heavy sort of satire – heavy in that it is not at all frivolous. The concept of the play hinges on the chaos caused by The Riot Club, based on the notorious Bullingdon Club, which is comprised of ten rich, Oxford boys (who are played by women). Posh is very much open to interpretation and, although it took me a little while to get into it, I thoroughly enjoyed watching something that was absolutely unique.
There is a fine line between convincing satire and over-exaggeration. At times, Posh teetered on that line; however, in general, it stayed on the convincing side. The performances of Serena Jennings (Alistair), Lucy Aarden (Hugo) and Molly Hanson (Toby) were terrific, although some of the cast members slipped less seamlessly into male roles.
The fact that the script isn't altered at all means that it is hard initially to work out just what the audience is supposed to take away from the gender reversal; but, all in all, the fact that the characters are gender-reversed does make the satire more stark and it certainly works well most of the time.
If you are in the mood to see something unconventional and thought-provoking, it is definitely worth going to see Posh.