Cockroach, Who? - Royal Court Theatre

I’ve seen that girl somewhere before. Yes, she was in Eastenders, wasn’t she? Hold on, she was in Harry Enfield just yesterday as well. In fact, if I dig deep I can think of dozens of things she’s been in.

Nicola Stapleton, cameo sensation, comes to the stage for "Cockroach Who?", the story of the lives of three teenagers living in a council estate. Look down the list of her previous acting jobs and you’ll see she’s been in nigh on everything. Sadly, the same can’t be said of the rest of the cast, but they still do a reasonably good job. In fact, the acting on a whole is quite convincing, you get the feeling that they are actually there in the estate, smoking grass and putting trainers in washing machines. When the old ladies who hang around the laundrette come on stage, you can actually smell the slightly pissy odour of dirty clothes.

The lingo may be a bit confusing for some, but others may be one step ahead of the cast. It’s tempting to scream out "No! You’re doing it all wrong!" when one of the young girls starts rolling a joint. The culture of the girls is very well constructed and you’re left in no doubt as to the kind of lives they’re leading. The same goes for the old ladies in the laundrette: life revolves around gossiping and drinking tea. You can’t help feeling that you saw people like that when you were younger.

The plot is a little sparse, but basically the father of one of the girls died recently and she goes around in a permanent crisis until one of the old ladies sorts her life out. But the plot isn’t really what it’s all about. Enjoy this for its insight into the difficulties faced by the girls, growing up when the world seems to be falling apart around them.

Andy Roya