Bloody Knees

Updated: 2 days ago

Review written by Eva Mouzouri and Simon Darnley

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Woman sitting on a settee with a rug over her knees — Maddy Sanderson as Cass in Bloody Knees.

Bloody Knees, written, directed, and performed by the talented Maddy Sanderson, follows Cass, a woman in her mid-twenties who is perpetually stuck in the same mindset as her younger self. We watch as she clings to the childhood innocence of cartoons and junk food, trying to navigate the transition from university into adulthood. Sanderson achieves this through sitcom-like snapshots of different embarrassing, awkward and regrettable moments that every girl in her 20s can relate to.

The writing is witty, clever, and creative although the density of script mean that some jokes may have landed better if they’re given the space to breathe. The accompanying cast complement Sanderson’s significant acting chops, delivering on sincerity with lots of humour.

Sanderson writes female friendships with the perfect amount of love and annoyance. Cass and her best friend Georgie are the classic polar opposites who approach life differently after university. Georgie going for the corporate rout while Cass refuses, opting instead to keep trying to succeed in her creative endeavours like cartoon art.

The play does well to capture the struggles of creative people in the current job market, forced to give in to the office life or live, as Cass does, couch surfing and pot noodles.

With introductions to the side characters, like the drug dealing entrepreneur or spoiled son of a CEO, Sanderson creates a tangible world for Cass to live in, with all these characters linking to each other to create moments that feel so hilariously real.

With effective use of 1980s music and simple lighting, this is a great depiction of early adulthood in the 2020’s, a coming of age that is perfectly relatable to twenty-something year old girls who feel like they’re seventeen, still mentally a teenager trying to live in a world with job interviews and awkward social interactions. The play tackles all these issues going on in Cass’s life through her perspective. With fleabag-like fourth wall breaks and drug induced Garfield the Cat dream sequences.

Bloody Knees balances between a heart-warming comedy sketch show and a dark coming of age satire.

We highly recommend this play and can’t wait to see what the future holds for Maddy Sanderson.

The Libra Theatre Café

37 Chalk Farm Road

London

NW1 8AJ

November 13th 2024

Writer/Director/Cass - Madeleine Sanderson

Georgie - Lara Ibrahim

Oliver: Jaeyen Lian

Big Boss/Little Lord Fauntleroy: Charles Wolrige Gordon

Sparks the Dealer/ Judge Garfield: Joseph Wolffe