Amenie Groves is no stranger to a Varsity preview. Her Camdram reads like a CV on theatrical Red Bull, packed with roles as publicist, writer, director, and producer. But all of that pales in comparison to her show: Penelope Quadrangle & The Meaning of Friendship, where she took on all roles at once. The play follows its eponymous protagonist as she attempts to survive her first “friendship breakup” with murderous pal Natalie, without getting offed herself. Speaking to Zach Lonberg ahead of the play’s initial ADC run last Easter, she stated, “I can’t blame anyone except myself” if things go wrong. Four critically lauded performances later, a themed MASH night, “doubling” audiences and a host of glitter, limbs, and mayhem, the first question I ask her seems appropriate: “Did anything go wrong?”

“Things have changed immensely for Amenie since the end of that iconic run”

Besides scaring a housekeeper with the prolific amounts of fake blood in her shower, little did. Things have changed immensely for Amenie since the end of that iconic run. Her year abroad in Germany has been highly eventful – she tells me with glee about performing stand-up to international crowds – yet her ambition to take her first show to the Edinburgh Fringe never waned. She had, unfortunately, not succeeded before, but everything changed a few months ago. “I had done my interview crouching on some steps in Hamburg surrounded by pigeons … and [when I got the result] I literally just started crying on the bus, and all these old people were staring at me like, ‘she’s gone crazy.’”

The show, as you might expect, means the world to its writer. Having grown up visiting Cambridge, she describes having a show at the ADC as a “childhood dream,” influencing her decision to apply to Jesus, owing to its proximity to the venue. We discuss the various roles she takes on in her projects. Fully aware of Cambridge’s immense workload, Amenie attributes her all-in approach to a desire to lighten the load for others – “I always want to make a positive atmosphere everywhere. Cambridge is intense, so if I can take off that intensity for people, that’s what I always try to do.” But while her commitment came from a generous place, she admits it’s not something she feels has to be repeated for this version of Penelope. “I’ve been doing the show for two-to-three years, and I just think it needs those fresher, newer voices.” Over time, she’s come to feel the show has morphed into “the Amenie Show, and that’s never what I want it to be.”

“Change was undoubtedly on the horizon for Penelope Quadrangle”

Change was undoubtedly on the horizon for Penelope Quadrangle. Practically, the glittery and devilishly flamboyant antics of the first run were incompatible with the Fringe’s strict set rules. Burdened with a CamDram technical director’s worst nightmare – a 5-minute time limit on their get ins and get outs – the team went to great lengths to ensure its over-the-top nature could be retained with a more minimalist approach. The team plan to use a tarp to remove any remains of glittery explosions which (may) erupt throughout the production, and have ‘2D-ified’ many of the props to lend the show an extra level of cartoonish delight.

The show’s creative team have equally seen some changes. When discussing new approaches to the play with its Fringe director Izzy Lane, Amenie encouraged deviation from her original vision - “you have the skeleton of the show that I directed. Adapt it, do things with it. Have fun with it.” The most prominent change – Keyna Wilcox taking on the role of Natalie – has Amenie particularly excited. She gleefully describes her performance as “reminiscent of Regina George, but if she’d taken a few drugs and picked up a knife.” She is also quick to praise the other members of the cast – Edith Stewart, Sameera Bowers, and Theo Parkin – some of whom have been involved with the show since its first iteration as a part of March 2024’s Festival of New Writing.

Edith Stewart’s Penelope is iconic. “Loyal, able, and extremely well dressed. And absolutely, definitely, not lonely.” It’s a role born out of the chick flick protagonists of the late 2000s – Bridget Jones, Fleabag, the kind you’re likely to see during a Galentine’s day binge – but dropped into an entirely alien genre: the slasher. Penelope, for Amenie, is not always “a likeable character, but she is a relatable one. Sometimes we’re not likeable, sometimes we do things for friendship and for love, and because we feel so insecure, that makes us really nasty.” Penelope’s “redemption” comes from her ability to escape that “pit of insecurity,” highlighting the importance of surrounding “yourself with people who make you feel like yourself – that’s the message of the show.” As an aside, Amenie remembers asking Edith how she captured the character so vividly on stage, only for the star to confess: “it’s based on you.”

The show comes to its originally intended venue of the Corpus Playroom this week, a departure that the team is wholly prepared for. On the other hand, neither Cambridge nor Fringe audiences may be ready for what promises to be a theatrical thrill ride.

Penelope Quadrangle and the Meaning of Friendship is showing at the Corpus Playroom at 7:00pm from Tue 17th to Sat 21st June. It shows at the Edinburgh Fringe at the Ivy Studio in the Greenside at George Street venue from 7:45 pm between Fri 1st to Sat 16th August.

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