Flock, Soho Theatre review

Right now, there are over 100,000 children living in care in the UK – a record high. Increasing demand for foster homes is putting unprecedented pressure on the system, meaning almost 40% of siblings in care are separated.  

This is the backdrop to Lin Coghlan’s Flock, the powerful and tragic story of siblings Robbie and Cel navigating the care system, their changing relationship, and the trials of early adulthood. Robbie is 17 and desperate to get his ‘bidding number’ so he can apply for council housing and live independently, longing for a world where he and Cel can be a family again. At the same time, Cel longs for a life beyond the town where they’ve grown up; working three jobs she spends her evenings studying for A-Levels at the local college and dreams of being offered a place at university.

Flock. Image by Lucy Hayes.

Coghlan’s script is based on over three years of research as part of the Raising the Roof engagement programme, working alongside young people in the care system to develop stories based on their experiences. Whilst not verbatim the authenticity is obvious in Coghlan’s writing – Raising the Roof participants attended rehearsed readings and shared feedback on the script – and her dialogue and characters are engaging and believable, without over-romanticising or stereotyping their experiences.

Jamie Ankrah captures Robbie’s emotional turbulence perfectly: not yet an adult but no longer a child, he is stuck between two worlds that don’t accept him. He is equal parts frustrating and pitiable, lashing out at his sister and social worker Mrs Bosely (Jennifer Daley) despite the affection he clearly feels for them both. It takes a little while to warm to Gabriella Leonardi’s Cel, but she seems to relax into the role as we learn more about her life and aspirations, and it is her heartbreaking storyline that ultimately hits home.

Flock. Image by Lucy Hayes.

Jim Pope’s direction makes use of the small, sparse stage and Sandra Falase’s set design embodies the forced resourcefulness of the young characters – shopping trolleys become cars, wooden blocks are train carriages, and an old tarpaulin is the local canal where they go fishing for change. This fluidity mirrors the play’s narrative, which weaves cleverly through time between flashbacks to Robbie’s and Cel’s childhood, their present-day frustrations and dreams for the future.

At just over an hour the play is short and offers the audience only a brief window into the lives and struggles of the characters. A sudden tragedy means the ending feels somewhat abrupt, interrupting any space for reflection that the open-ended narrative might otherwise have left. Nonetheless, Flock gives a voice to young people that often don’t have one, and highlights the struggles that those in the care system experience into adolescence and beyond.

‘Flock’ is playing Upstairs at The Soho Theatre, Dean Street, until Saturday 2 November. Find out more and buy tickets here.

 Review by Ellen Hodgetts