Consensual

by Evan Placey

An explosive and thought-provoking play from the author of Girls Like That , exploring what happens when buried secrets catch up with you. As Head of Year 11, Diane is meant to be implementing the new 'Healthy Relationships' curriculum. But then Freddie arrives. She hasn't seen him since that night six years earlier when he was fifteen. She thinks he took advantage of her. He thinks she groomed him for months. Neither is sure. But when it comes to sex and consent, how far can you blur the lines? Evan Placey's Consensual was first performed by the National Youth Theatre in their 2015 West End season.

Genres: Plays

93 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2015

Reviews

[hawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy the plays Evan Placey writes 😃

some thoughts on this one as as I went along


❗ BE AWARE my notes/comments below contain spoilers, and discussion of (non)consent, and explicit sexual activity ❗


🌟 very intense play. and really complex/complicated. what you think you know, you don't really.

no easy answers. what is truly understood?

and consent. really interesting exploration of it. tho sadly I think only thru more non-consensual situations.

I appreciated the deliberate age difference between Diane and her husband being the same as between Diane and Freddie... tho that wasn't explored as much.

and the night between Diane and Freddie - did either fully consent? Freddie seems to know what he wants and what he's doing... but he's young, and there's the obvious power dynamic between student and school advisor. Diane is drunk and I don't think fully consents at all, to any of it either - even tho she's older (tho only 22), and is attracted to Freddie she's clearly drunk, he encourages her to drink more while she's trying to sober up, and then doesn't pull out when that's what they'd agreed, and she's telling him to/saying no to him at the time.
can see why it leaves them both feeling wronged. and I think possibly for Freddie especially that there's no contact after - from his perspective it's like she just took what she wanted and dropped him. he was fasure vulnerable.

the other storylines around the main one are also interesting. there's alot around responsibility too. around the boundaries and relationship between student and advisor/teacher.

awa being a play/thing in its own right, I think it makes a good vehicle for starting conversations and exploring consent with young people.


🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟


accessed as a paper book, published by Nick Hern Books.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking read. This play can definitely become uncomfortable at times, but it really explored both points of view when two parties feel they have been violated. Definitely a conversation starter!

[Amadaww]

It’s very emotional play. Even though the answer is given, I didn’t feel a satisfaction of having this knowledge.
The play is a little bit uncomfortable, but it’s needful and those tense moments are well placed.

[Jake Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Consensual was a really interesting read, presenting two differing perspectives on a relationship in which both parties consider themselves victims of abuse. A difficult one towards the end but worth it and very thought provoking when considering the idea of unclear boundaries and when people become aware and able to consent to things - suggests that in some cases, people may turn situations in which they've hurt others around as a means of shifting responsibility for their actions, and shows how it's completely possible for two people to hurt one another in different ways.