Naughty Swedish Girl Destroyed at Theatre Deli London Review

Written by Harriet for Theatre and Tonic.

Disclaimer: Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review. All views are my own

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Emma Sanborgh’s feminist solo show Naughty Swedish Girl Destroyed was performed on Saturday 14th March in the penultimate round of Kaleidoscope Festival, which was showcased at Theatre Deli on Leadenhall Street. The City of London space doubled when 20,000 square feet of unused office and retail space was transformed into 16 new studios where independent artists could rehearse, develop and showcase productions. The conversion allowed for a new performance space to be installed offering removable unraked seating, allowing it to double as both a dance studio and a space for audiences to enjoy the unique pieces showcased within the venue. Utmost punctuality is required in order to ensure the viewer acquires their desired position within the unreserved seating plan of the theatre and has a fulfilling experience void of any obstruction.

The new installation also featured black curtains, which were drawn across the studio’s large windows and paintings allowing its latest audience members to immerse themselves within the Kaleidoscope festival. The festival, produced by the Alumni of Mountview’s 2024/25 MA cohort, ran across 5 days, featuring 23 artists performing everything from early-development scratch pieces to long-form shows fresh from fringe tours across the UK with each line-up consisting of four shows.

Once the previous performer among the line-up, Noah Van Renswoude, took their bow for their performance of the auto-ethnographic cabaret ‘Be a Man?!’, Emma Sanborgh’s Naughty Swedish Girl Destroyed commenced. Sat amongst the studio’s Fresnels, I noticed how they shifted from a stark white and began to cast a suggestive shade of red towards the set. Audiences began to witness Sandborgh comprise together the set in real time while remaining in character. In this satirical depiction of a sexually liberated adolescent, Sandborgh frantically ducks beneath the clothing rail she had placed on stage right, as she begins to dress the rest of the set with different pieces of sexual paraphernalia. 

Soft murmurings of actresses from pornographic material soon began to sound out subtly, anchoring the luminous red lighting as Sandborgh laid out the remaining set pieces, which even included climbing a step ladder to hang props from the ceiling. With further development, I hope that Sanborgh perhaps incorporates the coat hanger and stockings she had strung from the ceiling within any potential portrayals of the piece she plans for the future. All the other pieces of costume which hung upon the rail and drew my attention had later become pivotal discussion points within the piece as Sanborgh dressed herself in them. 

Through her use of intense scarlet lighting in the beginning, Sandborgh created a contrast against a white shirt, which illuminated on its hanger. This emphasised the innocence originating behind schoolgirl costumes which have now developed an erotic nature and raunchy design especially within certain subgenres of porn. Later Sanborgh tries on the red pleated school skirt, hung up next to the white shirt, as she experiments with her sexuality and how that can suddenly snowball into conformity towards subservient gender roles which are deeply instilled within porn culture. This also sparked a discussion on how the real groups of women which have been fetishised oftentimes become mere search terms based on their ethnic group or resemble members of a 14-year-old classroom. 

Within another example Sandborgh innovatively utilised a flower garland to enact the damaged scar tissue which had been revealed to her within an STI test. Somehow despite being a solo performance this monologue manages to closely resemble a duologue through the levels which Sanborgh cleverly utilises. Within this monologue Sandborg acts out how as she lay down for her STI test, she had attempted to lay down to the nurse at the clinic her desire to remain in control of her body, remarking on how liberated this overzealous and overtly sexual self-expression had made her feel at just 17. However, when the level of control she really has within her relationships with men is suddenly questioned, Sanborgh embarks upon a discovery of her sexuality, which though incredibly interesting and prevalent perhaps could have been developed further. 

The solo show however, thanks to the use of spass, translating directly from German to the word “fun”, felt very Brechtian in its approach. Sandborgh tickled the audiences with elements of spass from the very beginning by reading out titles of salacious pornographic material as if they were headlines breaking the news before slapping the audiences with real statistics. Sandborgh’s performance is packed full of gags, accent and mime within a humorous and racy narrative showcasing her talent not only as a performer but a soprano. 

Between Swedish Folk music, which paid homage to Sandborgh’s Swedish heritage, Sandborgh delivered anecdotes, monologues and fact, narrating the similarity between the British and Swedish 12 years olds who are already able to access the harmful stereotypes rampant within porn. Thanks to her collaboration with dramaturg Adriana Bjaringer, Sandborgh culminated a didactic, inventive performance which transported audiences through the growing industry that is porn and its impact on shaping a woman’s identity across some of her most fundamental years. Sandborgh showcases herself as a bold truth teller as she fiercely embarks across the pivotal trials and tribulations she endured across her womanhood while exploring her sexuality and whether ‘ethical porn’ really exists. Overall, the piece sparked many interesting moral debates including one on how much control we can really gain over a culture which still feeds heavily off of shame and stigma.

★ ★ ★ .5