One drunken night of misconstrued intentions and selfish decisions blows up a friendship. We Had Fun at Summerhall Old Lab is all about consent, violation, and everything that lurks in between. We Had Fun features Ela and Oscar, who, after a four-year friendship, drunkenly sleep together at a house party. While Oscar feels he acted honourably, Ela feels taken advantage of. What ensues is essentially an hour-longargument where the pair, conveniently stuck in a lift, must deduce what actually happened that night. We Had Fun is written by Emmeline Hartley and Jack Mullings, who co-star in the piece, and is intended to be an unflinching anti-romcom about sexual politics in the modern ‘post-truth’ era.
Such an important cause deserves a writing quality to match, and the script certainly needs improvement. The emotional heart of the story is muddied by unnecessary side characters and auxiliary scenes that feel irrelevant. Issue-driven theatre can often feel as though it prioritises content over style, and dogma over delivery, and We Had Fun falls into this trap. The play focuses on the meticulous details of Ela and Oscar's argument, and much of this information is lost on the audience. As a result, we never get close to its characters, and the play lacks an emotionally persuasive impulse. Nevertheless, it bravely taps into an important conversation we must have, now more than ever.
In a world where young men are indoctrinated by misogynist influencers and anti-women sentiment is growing on a societal level, We Had Fun tells a vital story. Oscar, confronted by Ela’s insistence that their sexual encounter was not entirely consensual, begins the play overrun with confused guilt. As their ‘he said, she said’ conversation continues, however, his facade falls away and we see him for what he truly is - a scheming and violent attacker intent on controlling the narrative. It is gratifying that, after the characters rehash the events of the party repeatedly, the audience discovers the truth and Ela’s perspective is established as fact. While the script lacks nuance and realism, the sudden reveal of Oscar‘s true nature and his controlling and manipulative treatment of Ela and her story is a poignant reflection of an unfortunate reality for many women. I also felt this production handled its distressing theme with careful sensitivity; well-thought-out movement direction from Carrie-Anne Ingrouille makes abstract what could have been uncomfortably graphic. While most of the movement throughout the show feels unneeded, sometimes entirely disrupting the flow of the action, it does have brilliant moments.
We Had Fun is a powerful show with great potential. The script is too literal and overexplains itself, and the play’s movement sequences and supporting characters are largely superfluous. Unfortunately, at times, the play works to its own detriment and fails to grip its audience with the emotional intensity it deserves to. But it is so important that this story is heard. With development, We Had Fun can become a fantastic play with powerful psychological and societal impact.
⭐⭐.5
We Had Fun plays at Summerhall Old Lab until August 31st at 6pm. Find tickets and more information here.
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