The Girl Who Fell, Trafalgar Studios - ★★★★ - Until November 23, 2019
Suicide sends out ripples of guilt and grief that touch everyone connected to the death. This is the story of how a teenager's act of suicide impacts her mother, friends and even those who did not know her while she was alive. It is a powerful story and is powerfully acted. Claire Goose as mother, Thea, and Navin Chowdhry as Gil do fine jobs from the rom-com situation of their meeting through an uneasy transition to the harrowing scene of their mutual drug taking. Rosie Day as Billie is strong as the devious and annoying best friend of the girl who commits suicide while Will Fletcher, as her twin Lenny, is completely credible as the somewhat dim but well-meaning boyfriend. If there's a problem here, it was that the work itself seemed rather over-written ... just too many allusions both by the characters and the author weighed down the piece. There also seemed some character inconsistency. It was difficult to credit that the mother, a prison chaplain, and therefore a person of faith who must have dealt with so much in the brutal world that is incarceration, was so ill-prepared to deal with this crisis in her own life that she thought drugs would somehow bring her closer to her dead child. Similarly Rosie Day's character seemed oddly, and alternately, sensitive and cruelly obtuse. The narrative was event full and touched on many hot button issues such as parenting in the era of social apps and cyber bullying so it certainly resonates with current events. Indeed, there are lots of reasons to see The Girl Who Fell, but for us the main reason would be the high quality performances of an outstanding cast.
Reviewed by J.C.
Our Score: ☆☆☆☆
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WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until November 23, 2019
Mon - Sat: 7:45 pm, Thu & Sat: 3 pm
Trafalgar Studios
Nearest station: Charing Cross
