What does it mean to be “unwanted?” To be cast aside, to be unnecessary, to be forgotten? The young women we meet in George F. Walker’s Girls Unwanted have been made to feel that way their whole lives, so when the police start calling about a murder, everyone has their back against the wall. The Toronto premiere of this intense new play, also directed by Walker, will have your heart pounding and tears in your eyes.

The King Black Box is a perfect venue for this production; making use of the small kitchenette at the back of the space, and decorating the rest of the room with pop culture references from (literally) floor to ceiling, it makes the audience feel like a fly on the wall of their house. The back wall is practically wallpapered with CD inserts and posters, which is rather nostalgic for me who remembers when getting a portable CD player was all the rage. The mismatched chairs and couches, the books and board games littering the floor, all of Sophie Ann Rooney’s design elements come together to create a space for these intriguing characters to inhabit.

Girls Unwanted focuses on the lives of three women, Kat, Hannah, and Ash, who currently live together in a shelter. Ash has recently returned from a stint in the hospital, and not all of the girls are thrilled to see her at first. At the same time, a young man arrives claiming that he’s Kat’s brother, Max, and he wants her to come and rejoin their family. However, when their supervisor Maddy gets a call to say that a former counsellor who used to work at the shelter has been found murdered, that’s when things really start to heat up. As the girls talk about their past, we feel the trauma and hurt which they’ve all suffered, including Maddy, and yet also why each of them is a viable suspect in the murder. With an ending that’ll take your breath away, Girls Unwanted has Walker’s classic mix of humour and ferocity, creating a gripping narrative you can’t take your eyes off of.

Walker’s play meticulously examines the lives of these women in such a way that they didn’t feel like stereotypes or stock characters; these are fully fleshed out humans whose story we’re witnessing right in front of us. While the language they use is more coarse, and at times dates the play with the insults hurtled, it feels real. They talk over one another, argue like their lives depend on it, and yet also love each other fiercely. They’re all complicated in their own ways, and while their trauma is discussed throughout the play, there is a respect and a gravitas to it which allows us to understand the characters better without immediately passing judgement.

One of the most complex characters in the play is Ash, played by Marline Yan. Her (com)passionate portrayal of Ash moved me to tears; this is a girl who’s been mistreated so many times in her life, has a burdening amount of survivor’s guilt, and yet still can find comfort in her friends at the shelter. Her main source of comfort is Kat, played by Alexandra Floras-Matic. Floras-Matic plays an aloof and hardened young woman and yet we see the kindness and love which lies just under that tough exterior she’s been forced to adopt. Both Floras-Matic and Yan have very physical moments throughout the play; these moments heighten the life-or-death feeling which these girls live with all of the time. Ziggy Schulting, who’s also the artistic director of King Black Box, plays Hannah, the third young lady living at the shelter. Schulting gives Hannah this totally delusional air, which we don’t find out until the end is covering up a potentially dangerous person. Bringing the majority of the laughs throughout the play, Schulting is a perfect foil to Floras-Matic, and their verbal sparring has a familiar edge to it. L.A. Sweeney’s portrayal of Maddy is nuanced and engaging; her character in particular leaves me full of questions in the best way possible. Rounding out the case is Louis Akins as Max. Akins plays Max with such a gentle understanding that you can’t help but adore him as he makes meals for the girls while they try to get things sorted out. This cast has incredible chemistry together and their passionate performances will have your on the edge of your seat.

I’ve become accustomed to not expecting each and every play to tie itself up nicely with a bow; sometimes it doesn’t really work, but the questions we’re still left with at the end of Girls Unwanted make it the haunting, thought-provoking show it is. Girls Unwanted opens tonight, September 5th and runs until September 29th. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.thekingblackbox.com/event-details/girls-unwanted-by-george-f-walker-2024-09-05-20-00

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Cover photo: Alexandra Floras-Matic and Ziggy Schulting. Photo by Jules Sherwood – jsherwood photography

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