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In The Girlfriend Expeience, first staged at the Royal Court last year, she uses this same device to tell the real-life stories behind the oldest profession in the world.
Prostitutes Tessa and Suzie work in a brothel on the Bournemouth seafront. Suzie is a warm and caring, rather maternal figure who does what she does in order to take care of her cancer-stricken father. While Tessa, who has a 16 year old daughter, likens her career choice to that of stacking shelves in Sainsbury's.
Poppy is the sombre newbie who is still getting to grips with being self-employed and hasn't quite mastered the art of saying no; Alex Lowe plays their numerous clients, a spectrum of seediness ranging from 'Viagra' man to 'OAP Leather Gloves' man.
The Girlfriend Experience is an eye-opening, amusing and bizarrely fascinating look behind some of the myths and stereotypes of prostitution. The main revelation is that of the routine and normality of these women's lives. They come to work in their regular clothes, bringing their 'uniforms' with them. Suzie, in particularly, also brings all that she'll need for the day, including an iron, sandwiches and packet of Kit Kats.
The women then get changed, before opening the 'drop-in centre' - where men can come and see them without making an appointment. When the first client arrives he goes off with one of the girls into one of the two bedrooms, while the others pass the time watching day-time TV.
The production also shatters notions of high-class escorts, drug addicted street walkers or pimped victims of human trafficking. They do exist, but not in this world; these are (mainly) middle aged, self-employed women carving out a 'business' under their own rules. And the girlfriend experience they offer? It means something more friendly and homely than hard-core, anonymous sex.
The cast are all first class as these varied women of the Bournemouth afternoon, but Beatie Edney's Suzie stood out. Her sweet and lovable nature was maternal but she also showed a lonely side when talking about the relationship with her new boyfriend/client; I instantly warmed to her character. Lu Corfield is also superb as the self-harming Poppy, a character that is amusing but also clearly deeply troubled.
While the nature of The Girlfriend Experience's creation, drawn frm over 100 hours of edited interviews, means it lacks a strong plot, Joe Hill-Gibbins' captivating production keeps the audience engrossed to the end.
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