Millennial Pink | Home Manchester

Home Manchester once again hosts the biennial PUSH Festival, a celebration of North West creative talent. The third edition of the festival is showcasing work from around the region with a diverse programme and range of events. Girl Gang Manchester are a collective of artists and activists based in the city who explore how popular culture shapes the lives of young women. Millennial Pink - Work In Progress asks audiences how they would define being a millennial and to take a look back at their teenage years. With a performance straight out of smash hits magazine, the piece explores everything that is nostalgic about the late 90s and naughties.

The set design by Jennifer Wright is every teenage girls typical millennial bedroom. Think inflatable chairs, groovy chick bedding and endless amounts of CD’s to go straight into your pink cd player. Audiences are invited into the bedroom pre show to snap a selfie or to add their voice to the installation which has already had over 120 respondents. 00’s makeovers with hair braiding, facial glitter and learning iconic choreography are other activities audience members are encouraged to turn up early for, inviting us to be a part of the show in this retro world. Audience participation is at the perfect level for those who want to get up and be part of the show and for those more interested in taking it all in. A lovely addition to the show is the plethora of hits from the era that audiences are encouraged to sing along with the cast, with audience members heard saying ‘I love this one’, no doubt bringing back a plethora of memories.

The piece starts with a whistle stop tour through recognisable moments around the turn of the millennium. Think Spice Girls and girl power seemingly taking over the world, Big Brother launching the start of reality television, labour’s famous victory in the election to the famous three way kiss at the VMA’s. All done with interesting and well executed video design. Throughout the piece, video design is used to aid the dialogue with videos of the cast as their younger selves to a hilarious interpretation of pussycat dolls buttons. The animations and videos were impressive, they did, however, not stay projected long enough and were often out of time.

Each section of the performance puts a different cast member at the forefront of the piece with an almost sitcom like title. ‘Sexy School Girl’ explores how young women compared themselves to icons such as Britney Spears in her ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ video and the pressures that put on them to look and act in a certain way as well as potential expectations from young men. As well as exploring women’s pressures back then it’s also considered how pressured young women are today just from a different perspective. Whilst the teenagers back then didn’t face the expectations of Instagram influencers and skin care routines beginning at the age of ten, each era has its own flaws reminding us that as much as women’s rights have moved on they are burdened by the same expectations and pressures.

The entire cast features glorious representation that really is a joy to see such powerful individuals tell their stories which are so repeatable. Perhaps none more so than Octavia and her beautifully written and performed original piece of music. Each member of the company brings a uniqueness to proceedings and as a collective are cohesive.

At times it was difficult to fully hear the dialogue due to placement of the cast having their backs to the audience or being sat within the crowd. The use of headset microphones would greatly elevate the piece in each cast member being fully heard and understood. Whilst work leading into the interval needs to be done as it wasn’t initially clear or impactful, the opening of act two was in total contrast. The boy band section of the piece explored how obsessive teenage girls can be with their idols whether that be a love and affinity with their music and songs or one member of the group in particular. Let’s be honest, we all had one didn’t we? The audience was in hysterics as recreations of classics from Backstreet Boys and Another Level played out in front of us.

From the pre show pamper to the post show party this ambitious show is a nostalgic trip down memory lane for all who long to relive their youth. With film, music, poetry and choreography the piece is cleverly crafted and executed with enthusiasm and passion. One question that has stood the test of time and still to this day incites a rapturous response when asked ‘Are you Team Britney or Team Christina?’ Well… ‘Gimme More’ Millennial Pink because we cannot wait to see what is next for this ‘Beautiful’ love letter to pop culture.

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