The sight of a bright full moon always seems magical, and it is a comfort to know that the moon is a constant, even when hidden. As the title of the play Nine Moons suggests, writer / producer Nilgün Yusuf presents nine scenes involving nine cycles (lunar and menstrual) over nine months with a subtext, too, of how the gestation period can offer a form of (re)birth.
This we see through the vehicle of the joy / horror of schoolgirl friendship between Danni (Ellie Uragallo) and Sage (Selma Alkaff), with third wheel Loukia / Bearded Iris (Laryssa Ivy Pereira)—the beguiling yet unsettling outsider.
Danni, consumed with rage towards her father, is obsessed with weight, exercise and being an online influencer and harbours a dark secret. Sage, meanwhile, expresses outbursts of angst towards her mother, her painful messy periods and abhorrence for her body hair (and for hair in general). Loukia is the one we would like to be: seemingly at peace with her hirsute appearance and jibes towards it and embodying the elusive power of not caring what others think or say—how many of us would have liked this superpower during our own schooldays?
As the dynamic between the three begins to change, we see how both girls are affected by Loukia’s ‘wolfish’ influence. The play is timely in its references to the pressure of societal norms and social media yet timeless in its depiction of the often-troubling journey that girls face from youth to maturity. Undertones of fantasy fiction, gothic, the fairy tale (with shades of Angela Carter) mix with feminist nods to Greer, Wolf and 'the obscure' (Diane Arbus).
The play holds a warning for strong language and adult themes with an age recommendation of 13+, and, as Shakespeare once wrote, there will be blood, both verbal and stage-enacted, but the subject-matter here demands it. A swift seventy minutes with no interval is achieved via clear narrative, rich dialogue delivered with exemplary diction and crisp direction from Renee Yeong. Squeamish moments are balanced by humour, and young men in the audience at my performance—albeit a little shocked—seemed captivated nonetheless.
First performed in rehearsed readings and at the Bridge House Theatre in 2023—to great acclaim—and having just completed two successful nights at the Old Red Lion as part of GRIMFEST 2024, Nine Moons now moves to the Lion & Unicorn (Kentish Town) for three nights this week.
This is perfect timing for the Halloween season and to experience largely uncharted facets of the female experience performed by three outstanding actresses who convey the play’s credo that if you accept yourself, then remarkable things might happen—especially when the difficult-unsaid is no longer hidden.