Please Love Me has the atmosphere of a late night and rowdy comedy with a hint of autobiographical live art. From pole dancing to pop singalongs, via anecdotes about romance born in a Tesco car park, the narrative races along, involving the audience through banter and passion before concluding with a thoughtful statement of self-love and acceptance.

There is a Day-Glo aesthetic to Clementine Bogg-Hargroves and Zoey Barnes’ tale of teenage sex and male misbehaviour which sweetens the bitter themes. Consistently reduced to a sexual object and denied dignity and agency by the men around her, the protagonist finds moments of control and joy despite a lack of respect that seems socially mandated. The pole becomes a place of retreat, where she can express those emotions beyond words; the cheeriness of her pop songs belies the hurt and antagonism that inspires them.

Bogg-Hargroves has a vigorous energy, infectious wit and, despite the bleakness of her adventures, an irrepressible sense of joy. This journey is more about the internal acceptance, and resilience, than the sometimes manic encounters, and female friendship is an important balance to the patriarchy’s determination to grind her down. Using the slightly drunken enthusiasm of an evening audience to pass on a moving and intense message, Please Love Me has a wild, mercurial glee that can still embrace melancholy.

Please Love Me, Pleasance Dome, until 26 August, 8.20pm.