Yerma Review Young Vic​
Billie Piper (Yerma) is brutally crushing in this original piece by Australian man-of-the-moment Simon Stone. Two hours of dialogue so natural you think it's improv, mixing in comedy with the desperation of a woman anxious to get pregnant. Yerma gives us powerful scenes that make the entire script valid and worthy of critical acclaim.

​This is not your standard night out to the theatre - expect tears, blood and the hunger for Yerma's journey to end at any cost. Perhaps the Young Vic's best work since Streetcar. 
Quick Summary - What's it about: 
  • Yerma (Billie Piper) trying to get pregnant over a period of 8 years.
  • Yerma is dating an older guy (the excellent Australian actor Brendan Cowell) who is always away on business trips ill-timed with her optimal ovulation. 
  • As everyone else around her gets pregnant without effort (planned or unplanned), she goes cray cray. It's very intense. 

Why go?
Yerma is a wonderful theatrical experience from the Young Vic - imaginative staging, excellent writing and pace, and Billie Piper shows she is a class actress in this hyper-intense role as a "failed" woman, and while she has perfect comic timing, this lacks genuine laughs.

​A Warning - IVF and Baby Making
Egg counts and the biological clock can be a MAJOR funk for "childless woman" in their 30s. Earlier this month, the Park Theatre's excellent production of The Quiet House outlined the despair of a couple trying very emotively, but from a same distance. YERMA takes you into the marriage, the aspirations, the failure, the blaming and leaves you destroyed.  

Who to take: NOT a friend on IVF that's for sure. This play deals with so many uncomfortable "let's change the subject" moments in relationships, beyond the dinner parties and "date nights", that perhaps it's best seen alone. 

WHERE
Location: The Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ
Closest tube: Waterloo or Southwark (Northern/Jubilee/W&City/SW Rail)
Post show drink: You'll need a strong one. This is an INTENSE 2 hours. How you feel will dictate what to order - no recommendations from us. 
WHEN
Running times/intervals: 120 mins straight through
Performance dates and matinees: 7:30pm Monday to Saturday, 2:30pm Wednesday and Saturday
Time you'll finish: 9:30pm or 4:30pm

HOW
Ticket prices:  £10, £20, £29 and £35.  
Day or cheap tickets? None, but the £10 tickets often have very good unrestricted views. 

WHO
Who's in it? 
Billie Piper, Brendan Cowell, supported by Maureen Beattie, John MacMillan, Charlotte Randle and Thalissa Teixeira

Director: Simon Stone