Theatre Review: Midnight Confessions
Words by Joanna Fan (she/her)
Midnight Confessions is a devised anthology piece of experimental theatre by the team at Heartbreaker Productions. Inspired by Caryl Churchill’s play Love and Information, it is written, directed, and performed by VUW alumni Abby Lyons, Alia Marshall, Anna Barker, and Mia Oudes. The 2022 season ran at BATS Theatre from 23-27 August.
Midnight Confessions felt like a Jacqueline Wilson novel, The Baby-Sitters Club, a 2000s Disney Original, and Fleabag all jam-packed into one.
The theatre was violet. The colour we chose in defiance of pink, the colour of subtle femininity, the colour of girlhood. The soft hue spilled in from the corners of the black box theatre and illuminated the entire space, drowning us in purple for the entire show. White sheets made up most of the set, draped from the ceilings and lining the stage floor to make it look like a canopy-bed-cum-pillow-fort. The performers were comfortable on stage in pyjamas, their belongings messily strewn across the sides—a few backpacks, a book, and what seemed like a million pillows. I am still in awe of their ability to transform a typically hollow and frigid space into a safe haven where I wanted to join them on stage and just lie down.
All signs were pointing to a sleepover. So obviously, it had to begin with MARINA’s 2012 hit ‘How to Be a Heartbreaker’, nostalgic of alt-Tumblr era or our first experiences as a director on VideoStar. The show followed a plethora of other slumber party festivities—made up dances, practising how to French Kiss, Harry Styles Wattpad fanfiction, chats about first sexual experiences, “heartbeats in their private parts” (perhaps what we now know as ‘fanny flutters’), and helping a friend take out their menstrual cup.
The core of the show truly lay within each of the girls’ confessions. Whilst the others sat and watched, alternating performers grabbed a mic and positioned themselves centre-stage, breaking the fourth wall and speaking to the audience. In these monologues there were relevant, painful, awkward, touching, and often too-relatable discussions around eating disorders, depression, friendship troubles, and sexual awakenings. They conveyed the nitty-gritty of girlhood that isn’t polished, picture-perfect, or curated for the mainstream (and often male) gaze. Though sometimes unclear, the scenes spanned across different ages. From a childhood crush on Shego from Kim Possible (same), to football camp, to a long awaited kiss, these snapshots captured a lifetime of ever-evolving sleepovers—sleepovers as friendship, sleepovers as therapy, sleepovers as feminine connection, sleepovers as solidarity.
As the performers informed us in the end, sleepovers defined girlhood. They defined the era of our lives that mainstream media often undermines and trivialises. Directed and written by a powerhouse team of four young women, Midnight Confessions is truly a celebration of women and girls, redefining the gravity of our stories one menstrual cup at a time.