Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.You could say Shakespeare did it with Romeo and Juliet. More recently, it’s been a string of smart, sassy musicals — Mean Girls, Dear Evan Hansen, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie — that have brought teenage torment centre stage, using the form’s glorious excesses to express the emotional turbulence of adolescence and the real need for love, belonging and validation.The latest to squeal its way on to the UK stage — and squeal it does, opening with a roaring high-speed motorbike chase — is Fangirls, Yve Blake’s hit Australian musical that explores fandom, fanfic and fantasy, and is, frankly, fantastic. First staged in Brisbane in 2019, it arrives in the UK post-lockdown, a period that has only exacerbated some of the issues it explores.At its heart are three 14-year-olds, Edna, Jules and Brianna. A squabble between them has left Edna, who lives with her single mum, lonelier than ever, locked in her bedroom and losing herself in the online world of total devotion to Harry, the unattainable floppy-haired lead of pop sensation Heartbreak Nation (it wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to sleuth out who he’s based on).Edna writes melodramatic fanfic narratives in which she “saves” Harry who, she has decided, is trapped by his fame. So when Harry extends his worldwide tour to Sydney, with tickets at an eye-popping $139.95, the edges between real life and fantasy begin to blur in an alarming way.The plot is highly unlikely, epically silly and has more holes in it than a fashionably distressed pair of jeans, while some of the problems the show raises — such as the cynicism of the music marketing machine — could do with much deeper interrogation. But it still walks a tightrope between send-up and sincerity skilfully, dialling emotions up to the max while honouring how painful they feel for the protagonists. Paige Rattray’s production likewise is wittily pumped up: one of the ironic highlights is the number “Actually Dead” in which the fabulous young cast blaze their way through Ebony Williams’s vigorous, snappy choreography while singing “Oh my God I’m actually dead!” But at its core is a sympathy for the disorientation and despair that can cloud teenage years, sometimes seriously.The show finds its still points in two heartfelt numbers: “Don’t Exist”, in which the onstage cast is joined by an online chorus projected on to a huge screen, all of them pouring their hearts out about problems such as their parents’ break-up. The second, “Disgusting”, is led off by the main trio but soon augmented by a cast whose diversity brings more sting to lyrics about the pressure to conform and fears of never being enough. The terrific new British cast is peppered with talent — Gracie McGonigal and Terique Jarrett shine as superfans; Thomas Grant perfectly channels the manufactured doe-eyed dreaminess of every heart-throb pop star. They are led by Mary Malone’s wonderful, brittle Jules, Miracle Chance’s hesitant Brianna and Jasmine Elcock’s excellent Edna, who combines a glorious voice with a believable blend of truculence and naivety. And let’s hear it for Debbie Kurup as the long-suffering Mum, who finally makes Harry’s signature lyric — “Nobody loves you like me” — her own.★★★★☆To August 24, lyric.co.uk
