Georgie Staight is directing a limited run at the Garrick Theatre of one-woman show Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon with Charithra Chandran, the break-out star of the Netflix drama Bridgerton.
Written by actor/director Rosie Day, Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon received multiple 5-star reviews when it was presented at Southwark Playhouse in 2023.
With two performances on Sundays, the production will open on 17 March and will run for six weeks until 28 April 2024.
You’re directing Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon as it comes to the West End, what can you tell us about the show?
It’s a coming of age story about a teenage girl whose sister has died and she’s navigating her way through everything that’s thrown up. It’s a bitingly funny, honest play about grief, friendship and loneliness set to the backdrop of scouts and a great soundtrack.
What impressed you most about Rosie Day’s script?
I vividly remember reading the script for the first time. Cup of tea in hand I read straight through without taking a single sip. The script is an emotional freight train which takes you on this incredible journey through one girl’s teenage years. I was really drawn to the central character. She’s a bit of an outsider to whom life hasn’t always been easy and she uses humour as her armour through that. Rosie can write a killer one liner and has that rare ability to make you laugh, cry, and hold your breath within a single page.
Why do you think audiences loved it so much when it ran at Southwark Playhouse last year?
We always hoped the show would connect with young people but what we didn’t expect was it to resonate with audiences of all ages in quite the way it did. We had 60-year-old men, grandparents, women of all ages coming up to Rosie to say how they connected to the show. Rosie writes with such dry wit and specificity and the more specific a work is the more universal it becomes.
You also directed that run, how do you look at it with a fresh pair of eyes when you return to a production?
Rosie and I started working on the script together in 2019. The world feels like a totally different place now, especially for teenagers, so the show has undergone a natural evolution which reflects that. We’ve integrated video so we meet other characters in her world and re-approached the design for a larger space. Working with Charithra also takes the show in an exciting new direction. With one person shows the interplay between the actor, text and production is much more direct and alive. A lot has evolved but Rosie’s determination in keeping at least one Taylor Swift song in the show has endured.
What are you most looking forward to about directing and working with Charithra Chandran?
Charithra has an electric energy as a performer, and a set of experiences and opinions which will inform the show in a totally different way to anyone else. We are in rehearsals at the moment and her boundless, positive energy has amazed me. You need stamina for a show like this and I don’t doubt for a second Charithra has that!
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon?
I’m biased of course, but I’d say book a ticket and bring someone else along with you. We want young people to leave feeling empowered, but this isn’t just a show for young people, it’s a show for everyone.
