We start, improbably, with 69-year-old Alice in a police cell. The top-class dramatic monologue that follows visits key moments in Alice’s life to explore how this unfortunate situation has arisen. The writing is sharp and funny, the performance accomplished and assured. With many cracking one-liners, there is wry sadness too. With the only prop (until the final scene) a police-issue blue blanket, Julia Faulkner creates a series of personae from Alice herself, to her Mum, schoolmates and teachers. Painted against a backdrop of working class values, it’s done with grace and warmth, telling effectively not only of the frequent invisibility of older women but its grounding in differences in treatment between girls and boys even from a very young age.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Alan Cranston]