Girls review – a story of friendship amidst extreme misogynist violence

Young Vic, London Recalling Boko Haram’s abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, Theresa Ikoko’s fierce and tender play reveals how three teenagers find hope and laughter under the most horrific circumstances Three girls huddle together, playing childish games to allay their

Young Vic, London Recalling Boko Haram’s abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, Theresa Ikoko’s fierce and tender play reveals how three teenagers find hope and laughter under the most horrific circumstances Three girls huddle together, playing childish games to allay their fears from whatever terror stalks them. There are flashes of light and sounds, followed by sudden blackouts. At first, Theresa Ikoko’s play appears post-apocalyptic.

Television screens line the back wall with radio frequencies tuning in and out. A strange structure looms overhead. Information about who they are, where they are hiding, who from, is parcelled out gradually.

You learn that they are three Nigerian friends and schoolgirls living in a forest in 2015. Their captors are never named but you can infer they are part of the insurgent Islamist group, Boko Haram , from the breadcrumbs of backstory. Director Ewa Dina makes this explicit in her programme note when she refers to the Chibok Girls, involving Boko Haram’s mass abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014.

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