Rolly has arrived at her sister Pink's mattress strewn nest, newly released from prison and extremely pregnant. She's been learning to read and wants to get toil to raise her pup. Pink's pup, Tani, is in care because Pink's turning tricks to pay for heroin. Rolly, newly clean, fixes her eyes on the prize and resists it all because she wants a different outcome for her baby, but when you're an addict, and when you're living and moving with the dregs of society, and when all you've ever known since childhood is abuse and addiction, violence and uncertainty, there is comfort to be found in what you know best.
Pests begins with a real sense of joy - Pink, constantly bombed, is delighted her sister's out, but as time passes, age old resentments emerge and start to colour the future as well as the past. Franzmann spent long spells in prisons researching the piece, commissioned by Clean Break Theatre, which more recently staged the rousing Billy the Girl at Soho Theatre. Her ear for the vernacular - the way young people move in and out of hip hop, street, estuary and standard rhythms - is beautiful even when the subject matter turns ugly, and Lucy Morrison's very physical production ratchets the tension.
In Conclusion: Ellie Kendrick as Pink and Sinead Matthews as Rolly, are astonishing, working through the layers of childhood neglect to expose livid fissures on flesh and mind. These are damaged souls bouncing off the walls of a society that hasn't the time or the means of rescue they need, so they're punished instead. Pests is a compelling watch, and deeply sad.
References
Royal Court, Tickets
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW3. Run ends 3 May.
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