Rosie Day’s 80-minute one woman play Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon successfully tackles teenage angst and the challenges of being a young girl in the 21st century. Originally performed at Southwark Playhouse in 2022. Day hands over the reigns to Bridgerton‘s, Edwina Sharma, Charithra Chandran. Who makes a very strong West End Debut.

Directed by Georgie Staight, Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon is a heartwarming and heartbreaking coming of age story. It tackles hard-hitting topics like sexual assault, grief and mental health with sensitivity. Day portrays the reality of loneliness and the isolation grief brings: “no one knows how to talk to you, so they don’t”. This sentence shows how, as a society, we’re more frightened to say the wrong thing than not speak at all.

Chandran gives a captivating performance of the girl who we later learn is called Eileen. She skilfully balances humour and angst with an impeccable performance of a teen girl through the ages of 13-17. Her honest portrayal of a victim of sexual assault shines a light on the sad (and at times scary) reality of how girls are treated in the aftermath of such a traumatic event and how society is designed to look out for men. Chandran’s acting ability really took center stage when she was stood clutching a dress, not speaking much, but I could feel her confusion, pain and horror all the way from my seat. At that moment, Staights’ very static direction and staging of a carefully placed red dress symbolically reflected the physical trauma she had been through. It was simple yet effective.

Jasmine Swan’s gray scaled bedroom is the perfect blank canvas for Dan Light’s video design, with his ingenious use of Polaroid framing on pre-recorded videos. It gives a nice break in the longer pieces of dialogue, even though Chandran is more than capable and confident at multi-rolling. That being said, I can’t deny she had strong chemistry with the mum and dad (played by Shelley Conn and Philip Glenister) and her impressive dialogue exchange with the pre-recorded costars is admirable, never missing a beat. Swan’s simple yet effective design made me wonder if each audience member could imagine their own teenage bedroom? Swan also cleverly yet subtly, adds a blanket of colour over Eileen’s room during the key moment she is opening up.

Day’s ode to being a teenage girl is a sincere portrayal of the day-to-day struggles teenage girls face in today’s society like I mentioned at the start. Yes, at times it looses impact on certain topics through jokes and cynicism. It still manages to highlight the unrealistic expectations placed on teenage girls and the important fact that NO is a full sentence!! Day’s writing and Chandra’s sublime performance make all the pieces of the girl’s scattered mind perfectly fit together. It really is a must-see for all young girls and boys.

Instructions For a Teenage Armageddon is currently playing every Sunday at The Garrick Theatre till April 28th.

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