On the hottest day of the year, a conflagration. The Young Vic’s studio space fills with smoke as records of violence against women across the centuries are consumed by flames.
Even before the fire, Sophie Swithinbank’s urgent drama shimmers with spark and danger. Ash (an outstanding Adelle Leonce) barrels into her new job at an archive collecting historic material about women failed by justice. Ash is lairy, smart and cheeky – she bobs and bops around the files, disconcerting her boss Lily (Phoebe Ladenburg, in paisley skirt and pom-pom slippers). But the pair grow closer, through awkward silences and blurted confidences.
