I was intrigued by the concept of Escapes: a devised play, whose script was built from nothing through a collaborative process between the actors and director, all in the space of the last week. Before this, there was little more than the title and the director’s vision of a play based around historical prison escapes. The result of the creative process has been a re-interpretation of this idea; the prisons presented are private ones, created by the women themselves, by their dependencies on others, and by modern society, which fails to provide them with excitement or fulfilment.

If you think this sounds like a cliché, you’d be right. From the very idea of modern life-as-prison, right through to the preoccupations at the heart of the play, cliché seems to be the bread and butter of this production. The characters exemplify this: Lydia (played by Laura Batey) is a struggling singer-songwriter who clings to an increasingly disinterested boyfriend, Leanne (Marika McKennell) a lonely crumpet-scoffing singleton, and Sophie (Martha Bennett) a psychologist with a host of her own problems. These are recognisable characters of the kind we are invited to sympathise with in series such as Girls, on the basis that their flailing attempts to avoid the inevitable decline into middle-aged mediocrity are relatable.

Nonetheless, there is some psychological depth to these characters, as well as some fine acting and comic moments. A playlist of sing-along radio tunes provides the relentlessly upbeat soundtrack, which pokes fun at the false optimism onstage. At moments this produces a delightful tragicomic effect, such as when ‘I’m horny’ blares across an uncomfortable silence as the conversation dries up at a dinner-party. And then there is a noteworthy scene that constitutes the only example of the physical theatre promised in the play’s description. Here, the actresses writhe to the sounds of Florence and the Machine, in seemingly anguished attempts to break free of their constraints.

It was at moments like these where I was left most confused about the message of Escapes. Was it, in earnest, suggesting that modern women are trapped in inescapable moulds that even the most idealistic of these such as that of the ‘independent woman’, offer little more than illusory freedom, and that corporeal expression is the only means of liberation? Or was this scene a parody in itself of that idea? Clearly, there is more going on in the play than first meets the eye, yet there is a claustrophobic conventionality to it that left me wishing it explored its themes a bit further. This said, the cast give excellent accounts of themselves, and the creation of an entertaining and thought-provoking piece in such a small space of time is an admirable feat.