A new play created by Sheffield Theatres and Clean Break, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and featuring the music of influential all-female punk band The Slits, is set to take the Crucible by storm later this month.
Set in a mental health unit inside a prison, Typical Girls follows a group of women who discover the music of punk rock band The Slits and form their own group. Billed as part-gig, part-play, it promises a funny, fierce and furious live performance, and we caught up with Róisín McBrinn, the joint artistic director of Clean Break, to find out what audiences can expect.
For the uninitiated, could you tell us a bit about it Typical Girls?
It is a play with songs from the Slits – it’s a really fun, light play with a very good heart that hopefully addresses some very big issues. We wanted to get these stories of women in criminal justice out to as many people as possible.
You mentioned that the play features music by the Slits. I’m curious to know whether the name of the play originated from their single Typical girls?
Yes, it features the Slits hugely. When Morgan [Lloyd Malcolm] was coming up with the context of the play she wanted the music to be as reflective and truthful of the world in regard to female prisons, but also the anger and rage she felt about the impression around that, she was really interested in the fact that there are women suffering in prison, so the slits became the absolute anthem of that anger and that rage but also that need for social justice. The reason why Morgan chose that title is because these women that you meet on stage, they completely and utterly share so many of the expectations of the typical girls mentioned in the song. They are much more complicated and multifaceted regarding what is expected.
What are some of the key themes the play touches on?
The women in the play are suffering with mental health issues. For example, some of these women have been diagnosed with a personality disorder, so mental health is one of the themes we explore. The other key themes are creativity of expression and rebellion. We look at what resistance from within the prison looks like.
Would you say that it also looks at gender roles and how women are misinterpreted?
Yes! As an all-female organisation, one of the main reasons we challenge gender roles is to ensure that women are taking up space and given opportunities and because we believe that women are misrepresented, so they definitely need to have their stories represented properly.
We want the audience to come away from this singing and dancing along to the music of the Slits, and we want them to come away from the theatre contemplating who we send to prison in the UK, how we treat women with extreme mental health issues and what the right way to help them is.
One of Clean Break’s aims is to use theatre to keep the subject of women in prison on the cultural radar, why is this important?
We believe that theatre does two transformative things: one it brings audiences and communities together through stories and reaches into the audience’s heads and allows them to see the multifaceted nature and complexity of what we have written about women being portrayed in stereotypical ways. The other thing is the way theatre can allow women to transform themselves. We work with people who have been in the criminal justice system, and we really work with those women by using theatre to help them transform their lives.
What has working been like following on from the pandemic, has the way you approach working on the stage changed or has everything gone back to the way it was before?
Sheffield Crucible has been a leading light and have really considered how to work safely with the cast and creatives – it has been great to work with them in that regard. It is different but so much of it is still very similar, we are creatives who are really delighted to be back together, and our rehearsals have been very positive because of that.
What are the main things you want the audience to take away from Typical girls?
We want the audience to come away from this singing and dancing along to the music of the Slits, and we want them to come away from the theatre contemplating who we send to prison in the UK, how we treat women with extreme mental health issues and what the right way to help them is.
Finally, why do you think people should come and see this play?
It is a really joyous night out, full of bold and wild experiences for an audience but also a phenomenal cast who rock out and who are fun and joyful and who hopefully will bring on a great show.
Typical Girls will be at the Crucible Theatre from 24 September to 16 October, with the performance on 6 October being live-streamed and available to watch online. Tickets and more info available at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.