Teacher’s Trials and Tribulations in ‘Detention’
Being a teacher is difficult: parents demanding the world for their children regardless of the effort being put in on the student’s end, a complete lack of social life because of all the time needed for marking, and to top it all off there’s the endless torment of your unenthusiastic pupils. Samantha Twiggs (Eleanor Daly) embodies all of these struggles and shows what happens when just about everything goes wrong for a passionate educator.
Opening as one of the later entries in the TK Fringe, Detention is a play by the Socrates Sisters (Eleanor Daly and Stephanie Rehm); two actual teachers who clearly have some choice words about the state of their profession. The piece stars Daly in this one-woman show about navigating the educational system. The first thing that struck me about the production was the alias the pair had taken up as a writing duo. Socrates himself held a deep distrust of the theatre, considering it deceptive and removed from reality, and therefore an obstacle in the pursuit of true knowledge. For this reason, I was quite perplexed as to why a playwriting duo would decide to label themselves with this philosopher’s name. Fortunately my curiosity toward the name was answered by the program: the name is used solely for this production, intentionally drawing a comparison between Socrates and Twiggs because the philosopher was condemned to death for “corrupting the youth of Athens.”
The comparison remains exclusively in the program note, and yet is possibly the most striking comparison the piece draws on. The show sees Sam Twiggs broken by scandal and misfortune, jumping to different points in her bad luck over the course of the show. This sporadic method of storytelling leaves the audience piecing together what might have happened to end Twiggs’ career as the show progresses, with the final reveal being a bit of a twist based on the play’s content but perfectly predictable if you take a few of the clues from the playwrights’ note.
Daly’s performance at Twiggs matches the chaos of the script; in addition to chronology being thrown out the window, there are regular dance breaks bookending scenes. The writing can be a bit awkward at times, but Daly’s complete dedication to the text helps to barrel through these uncomfortable moments. Despite being alone onstage, Daly is not the only performer in this solo show; a variety of prerecorded voice actors (Loulou, Claire Hoogenberk, Adrian Rehm, Stefan Rehm, and Enne Oh) join the cast through the speakers to give Daly someone to perform against. This helps heighten the tensions of scenes like Twiggs’ tribunal. Unfortunately it also comes with its difficulties; in one scene where Twiggs reads letters from her past students while the students’ voices play over the speakers, the two fail to read in sync, making it harder to understand the words and losing some of the emotional weight in the process.
The scripts’ greatest strength is how it perfectly captures the voices of the students. The writers’ experience in a classroom is evident from the pathetic attempts at essays and the ridiculous demands of the youngsters. From Rickrolls to insisting they be allowed to read Taylor Swift’s biography in place of The Handmaid’s Tale, the students’ tomfoolery is utterly believable and Daly’s performance of disbelief and disappointment is on point every time. There are years of practice behind reacting to such transgressions, and it makes them all the more amusing when watching the piece.
In addition to the aforementioned note on Socrates, the program also mentions that not only is this Daly’s stage debut, but it’s also Rehm’s first avenue into playwriting. The script is a bit awkward, and the performance (perhaps fittingly to a teacher telling jokes) is powerfully cringe-inducing, but the potent sense of experience behind so many aspects of the piece make its message feel raw and important. For a first venture into playwriting and performing, the Socrates Sisters have created a poignant script with an impressive dedication on behalf of the performer, making them a fantastic duo to catch at this early stage of their theatre careers.
‘Detention’ plays until August 17, 2025 at the Davies Lounge in the TK Fringe as part of The Kick & Push Festival. More information about the festival can be found here.
