University is an eye-opening experience for anyone, and especially if you live in a shared student house. You bump against each other, waste countless hours on conversations you’ll never remember, get irritated over the smallest things, and form connections that never truly go away.
Barbies and Drillas is a look into the days of five flatmates: there’s little in the way of overarching plot in the first part, just chats about their lack of progress, grand plans for the future, and deciding which pub they’re going to tonight. Raff (Evan Moynihan) has some delightfully grandiose attempts at monologuing, only for William (Kerr Louden) and Lottie (Tegan Noble) to banter him down to earth from in between their games of Fifa. There’s a chalkboard on stage that keeps track of various incidents, and ‘Raff Storming off’ tallies up by one quite early on. Laurie (Oliver Hatfield) joins a bit later, injecting another dose of chaos and shirtless dancing.
The main conflict comes from Poppy (Isobel Twist) bursting in, accusing someone of stealing her avocado: there’s a clear boundary between her and the other four, both in terms of outlook and a self-described difference in class. While the other interactions in their pairs and trios were all more equal, when all 5 flatmates are in the room there’s a clear line drawn between Poppy and the others.
After a bit more chaos and tension, there’s a timeskip: jumping forward to everyone meeting up at the old house. The awkwardness in the air is palpable, with everyone having grown their own (and sometimes opposing) ways, but the effort to stay connected is still very much there. There’s a lot of jokes in the play, mostly banter between the flatmates. All the actors inhabit their characters well, no action or line feeling out of place or unnatural: Louden’s William especially showcases the largest difference in his pre and post-timeskip self.
While it’s not going to set the world on fire, Barbies and Drillas is a realistic and humorous portrayal of a found family: there’s chaos, there’s warmth, and a lot of jokes.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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