Review by Clara
Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
Abbie is wearing a short dress, and stuffing tissues into her bra. She’s recently turned 18. She wants to dress fashionably and party the night away. Kate, her mother, tries to balance concern for her daughter with allowing her the freedom to explore and to enjoy herself.
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| Photo by Anna Gungaloo. |
Crackling between them is the underlying tension of an unresolved argument. So far, so familiar. But Abbie (played by Jules Coyle, who is also the playwright) and Kate (played by Eanna Ferguson) live in Holbeck, Leeds, where the local authorities implement a “Managed Approach” to on-street sex working.
“Managed Approach” may feel like a cold, clinical term, but it refers to a more integrated, more welfare-conscious paradigm. Prior to the Managed Approach, police in Leeds took an enforcement-led approach to soliciting on the street. Despite the resources put towards enforcement, this did not seem to achieve the intended aims. It neither alleviated the impact on residents, nor led to greater safety for sex workers. In 2014, the Safer Leeds partnership, which included the city council, police, and health services, began a trial of the Managed Approach.
The Managed Approach evolved over the years rather than staying static — there’ve been changes in mindsets and resourcing. It seems to have improved sex workers’ safety and conditions, but has been divisive in Holbeck.
The area includes neighbourhoods that are among the 4% most deprived in England (according to the government’s 2025 English indices of deprivation), and there’ve been criticisms about spotlighting or singling out a deprived area as a “red-light district”. After all, soliciting happens elsewhere, less visible but potentially at greater risk to sex workers. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the suspension of the Managed Approach zone in March 2020, and it was announced in 2021 that the Managed Approach would not be reinstated.
As can be imagined, there is an ocean of context and discourse that relates to this topic, and many stakeholders involved. In Open Aire Theatre’s ‘Managed Approach’, we not only hear from the fictional (though realistic) Abbie and Kate, but also from four sex workers — Dani, Tara, Sara, and Ellen — in their own words. Excerpts from Jules Coyle’s conversations with sex workers who had experience of the Managed Approach are sensitively brought to life by Áine McNamara and H Sneyd. Through their responses, we glimpse their life histories and motivations, the challenges and pressures they face, and their concerns and hopes.
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| Photo by Anna Gungaloo. |
Abbie and Kate take different stances, which becomes a flashpoint for conflict between them. Through flashbacks, we gain a more rounded understanding of mother and daughter, including their experiences in facing uncertainty and misogyny. Present-day Leeds’ concerns rhyme with history — Kate remembers the fear that gripped West Yorkshire for years due to the Yorkshire Ripper. As her daughter Abbie comes of age, she hopes that Abbie won’t have to worry about safety when out and about. Seeing sex workers on her street challenges Kate’s sense of the area’s safety. Eanna Ferguson and Jules Coyle sparkle in their roles as mother and daughter. Their acting is pitch-perfect both in monologues and in mother-daughter scenes. They also showcase their versatility by shifting between distinct characters and ages.
I was drawn into the story by the realistic writing and parent-child interactions. Memorable scenes included Abbie recounting her experience trying to get home on the night of her 18th birthday, as well as Abbie and Kate singing side-by-side in a car, their contrasting attitudes evocatively conjuring up familiar family dynamics.
Given the accomplished style of writing, it may be surprising that the play grew from one of Jules Coyle’s university assignments. ‘Managed Approach’ had its debut with the amateur dramatics society of Queens’ College, Cambridge in 2024, and went on to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025. From this play, Open Aire Theatre has sprung up, and aims to platform Northern stories inspired by true events. Its name echoes that of Yorkshire’s River Aire, which passes close to Holbeck.
The fictional and verbatim aspects of the play, which initially seem to run parallel, gradually converge as layers of the story unfold. The drawing together of lived experience and historical context in ‘Managed Approach’ results in an impactful, socially-aware piece that calls on us to re-examine our preconceived notions and to engage our empathy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Managed Approach’ runs at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London until
Saturday, 25 April 2026. Tickets are available from:
https://riversidestudios.co.uk/whats-on/Mk-managed-approach/
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| Photo by Anna Gungaloo. |
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