by Sarah Becker
⭐⭐⭐✨☆
3.9/5
Bravo to director, Jesse Jones and the creative team behind Top Gs Like Me. The set design alone was striking — from the moment you entered the Derngate auditorium, you sensed something bold and different.
Recreated as a skate park, the stage sat in the middle of the auditorium, with seating on either side, covered in graffiti and urban textures.
The action unfolded all around the audience, with actors entering from behind, in front, from above and from both sides. It created a genuinely immersive experience — if you like being in the middle of the action, this staging by Rebecca Brower, absolutely delivered.
That immersion also amplified the slightly uncomfortable, even oppressive tone running throughout — the sense of being stuck in a skate park, endlessly scrolling through your phone.
The story by local playwright Samson Hawkins, centres on Aidan (Daniel Rainford), working in Morrisons, eating yum-yum sandwiches and watching his childhood friend, Mia (Fanta Barrie) head off to university to study photography with her new boyfriend, Charlie (Finn Samuels). While she moves forward with her life, he feels increasingly left behind.
The constant scrolling through his phone is physically and imaginatively brought to life by actors popping up as exaggerated Facebook and Instagram Reel personas — dancers, the Queen, influencers — mimicking the fragmented, addictive snippets of social media. Students from the University of Northampton play many of these roles, gaining valuable experience within a professional production.
Among them looms a “Top G” figure — Hugo Bang (Danny Hatchard) — dressed in a sharp red suit, delivering rapid-fire rhetoric about money, women and dominance. He embodies the seductive pull of toxic masculinity and the corrosive influence such online personas can exert on young men who perhaps feel ‘unseen.’
Determined to prove himself after his girlfriend leaves, Aidan throws himself into a Deliveroo-fuelled business venture, clinging to the mantra that “cash is king.” But things spiral when he becomes involved with Charlie’s younger sister — initially unaware of her age — only to discover she is just 14. From there, the consequences begin to stack up.
The production cleverly demonstrates how social media algorithms distort and intensify influence. A particularly shocking scene (which I won’t spoil) lands as a bloody, visceral reminder of where this path can lead. As the “Top G” rhetoric intensifies, Aidan begins to mimic it — becoming harsher, more aggressive — until it culminates in violence. The message lands hard: follow this path and you risk ending up isolated, destructive and lost.
While the play’s themes remain highly relevant and the characters feel recognisably real, they are sketched in quite broad strokes than fully developed individuals. Although this helps convey the play’s message clearly, it limits the complexity the characters could otherwise achieve.
For some of the play, I found myself wondering where the narrative was heading — and then, suddenly, the moral lands with the blunt force of a Greek morality play.
By the end, when the apparent solution pivots toward the traditional “get back on track, go to college or university.” Other pathways could perhaps also have been presented. — entrepreneurship, skilled trades, the armed forces, creative industries.
That said, contemporary theatre’s willingness to experiment with form remains exciting. In terms of staging and immersive storytelling, this production succeeds boldly. It will undoubtedly spark conversation about the dangers of the Internet and figures such as Hugo Bang, while also working closely with — and bringing together — the local community in a meaningful way.
Top Gs Like Me runs at The Royal & Derngate until Saturday 7th March. For tickets visit: https://royalandderngate.co.uk/