Review: £1 Thursdays – an unapologetic celebration of female friendship and what it means to be young

New writing from rising star Kat Rose-Martin is a moving comedy drama exploring the highs and lows of friendship, young love and ambition, played out against the sticky nostalgia of 2012 club nights.

Monique Ashe-Palmer and Yasmin Taheri £1 Thursdays. © Ali Wright.

£1 Thursdays transports you back in time to an era of peplum tops, push-up bras and swigging water bottles full of vodka stolen from your dad’s alcohol shelf.

The tagline of a cheap night out at local Club Ocean – if you arrive early enough to get in - £1 Thursdays conjures up the rush of being underage and out with your friends and the complexities of growing up, accompanied by a pulsing backtrack of club classics and questionable dance moves.  

Set in Bradford in 2012, we follow 17-year-old Jen (Yasmin Taheri) and Stacey (Monique Ashe-Palmer) as they navigate what it means to be young and working class in the North of England whilst harbouring dreams of a life outside the only city they’ve ever known. Yasmin Taheri is fantastic as Jen, taking on the complex character with ease. Taheri and Ashe-Palmer work well together and have a natural, believable intimacy. 

Yasmin Taheri and Monique Ashe-Palmer £1 Thursdays. © Credit Alex Brenner.

In the space of 90 jampacked minutes, Stacey and Jen tackle life head on, dealing with STI scares, sixth form college and falling in and out love. Rose Martin’s fast-paced dialogue is brilliantly written and moves from laugh-out-loud one-liners to moments of pain and sadness without missing a beat.  

The stand-out scene is Jen’s Newcastle University interview with a corduroy-wearing PHD student (Joseph Ayer) who turns out to have also grown up near Bradford. Jen is forced to confront her fears about being trapped in a life she’s smart enough to leave behind, fitting in with other students, and what a university degree could mean for her and her mum, Leanne (Sian Breckin).

It is clear that this small cast and production team work well together. The intimacy of the renowned Finborough Theatre works in the play’s favour and Director Vicky Moran manages the space well, integrating some striking moments of physical theatre and comedy. You are drawn into Stacey and Jen’s world, and for the time that you are there you feel deeply that you want them to succeed.

£1 Thursdays shows that life is worth writing about. It is an ambitious exploration of the complexities of being a teenage girl and a testament to the importance of good friends.

Listening to Jen and Stacey talk, it feels like you’re in the girl’s bathroom chatting with your mates – and who wouldn’t want to spend their Thursday evening doing that?

£1 Thursdays is on at the Finborough Theatre 28 November - 22 December 2023.

Location: Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Rd, London SW10 9ED. Price: £18. Book now.

Words by Ellen Hodgetts