UCL's Punk Rock: Setting a New Standard for UCL Arts

*Photo credits to @junyan_and_his_camera on Instagram*

I recently had the privilege of watching two UCL plays in a span of 24 hours. The first was UCL's Shrek, an entertaining, if somewhat facile, musical. And the second was Punk Rock, a play that is as harrowing as it is unforgettable.

The performance follows a group of A-level students navigating teenage life, exploring heavy themes including relationships, sexuality, alcohol abuse, self-harm, and bullying. As William, Lilly, and a band of other sixth- formers prepare for their mocks, the latent hostility between them reveals itself, culminating in a rather disturbing end in which William acquires a firearm and shoots his classmates. Punk Rock is set in Stockport- something that definitely appeased the Mancunian in me. A hard but undeniably engaging watch, the 9 individuals involved were not only extremely well cast, but also quite frankly, all phenomenal actors.

Male lead Seth Robinson portrayed William Carlisle with an alarmingly convincing descent into madness, and yet, strikingly maintained a somewhat humanistic side to the character. The day before the shooting, his character advises Lilly to 'not come in tomorrow'- a perhaps unwelcome reminder that he is ultimately a sick teenager with an unrequited crush. Nonetheless, Robinson's portrayal of Carlisle is still slightly emetic, engendering palpable discomfort amongst watchers in scenes when he attempted to hug Lilly against her will, or asked her to 'show me your tits'.

Vinnie Trivedi's Lilly fittingly antidotes William’s peculiarity. With a combination of aloofness and understated intelligence, Trivedi plays Lilly as a slightly dissociated young girl trying to navigate though some quite serious issues of her own. Self-harm and an alcoholic mother are just some of the plights she faces. Unperturbed by William’s strangeness and acute lack of social standing, Lilly and William strike up a friendship of sorts- one that is both born out of concern, and is in itself concerning. Trivedi’s portrayal is compelling, serving as a reminder of the burden that young people, and dare I say more often than not, young girls, often take on when trying to ‘fix’ those around them.

Each character not only has commendable depth but is uncannily akin to people found in almost every secondary school in the UK. Perhaps this could be attributed to my upbringing in Manchester, but the play had the unique quality of both geographical and temporal immersion. It truly did feel like being back in school- surrounded by unlikeable teenagers whilst desperately trying to escape your origins.

Rudi Rance portrayed Bennet’s despicability so well that I actually found it hard to look at him at certain points. Alexandra Viktoria playing Cissy nailed a very difficult balance of comedy and ‘hateability’, whilst Nikolas Kunesch put on a poignant performance of Chadwick, the victim of Bennet’s humiliation rituals. Ben Francis played Nicholas with the perfect indifference of a teenage boy, whilst Jonny Oakley’s depiction of the stoic Dr Harvey was equally compelling. Tanya played by Eloise Johnson evoked heartbreaking empathy as she was body shamed by Bennett, as did Felix May playing Luke, Bennet’s abused younger brother.

Was this play the least stigmatising portrayal of people with mental health issues? Most likely not. However, did it tactfully deal with a number of themes such as sexual misconduct, discrimination, the bystander effect and bullying? Uncontrovertibly. Were the characters portrayed with striking humanism? Absolutely- even though some were loathsome it was impossible to not sympathise as they sobbed beneath gunshots. And most importantly, was it entertaining? Yes entirely. I would go as far as to say the most significant, and indelible, UCL production I have seen in a long time. An undoubtedly 5 star performance from the cast and production team.

UCL's Punk Rock: Setting a New Standard for UCL Arts

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