"Sistren" is an exploration of the bond between two schoolgirls - one trans, one afro-carribean. It's a hypermodern play about how the two experience and process the culture around them with a mix of private jokes and mutual protection, and about how their two cultures bring them into conflict. Iolanthe's script is achingly contemporary and immaculately referenced down to fashion, phrases and who's been cancelled this week. There's interesting engagement with how intersectionality really works in practice and how the concerns of a trans girl and a bio girl are not entirely the same, about some of the modern contradictions of adolescence and the way social media can help people find a community as easily as it can set communities against one another.
As performers, Iolanthe and Janet Anderson give it their all - they are engrossing, fun to be with, and relatable even when they start to get into touchier territory. Emma White's pink fluffy schoolroom of a set gives us a world that lives half-in-half-out of the two lead's heads - it's a femme-coded wonderland that you can't help but dive into. Director Ian Michael gives his cast just enough rope to know when to pull back and when to let things run riot, and it's a warm comfy time to enjoy with the pair.
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