Slappers and braggers: Fleabag at Soho Theatre
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Sitting on a stool under a spotlight the piece opens with Fleabag taking an interview for an office job. It soon goes horribly wrong which then leads to her confessional-like monologue on her life. It is a life is full of asides about her ex-boyfriend, her family, casual sex and her friend, with who she ran a hamster-themed coffee shop with until her death.
It is a testament to the quality of the writing and the performance that the hour breezes by. At times Waller-Bridge delivers the piece like a stand up routine which could make her a female Jack Whitehall. But performance is finely balanced between slutty antics and intense vulnerability which gives the piece its dramatic fire. Towards the end of the piece Fleabag says in despair, "Either everyone feels like this a little bit and they're just not talking about it, or I'm completely fucking alone." Perhaps it is its brutal honesty and that everyone does feel like this a little bit like that which makes this piece deliver.
It is a piece that will have you talking about it long after you have seen it. Leaving the theatre with @Johnnyfoxlondon and @gioinlondon we couldn't help but start to think of Fleabag-minded people. Maybe there is a bit of Fleabag in all of us. For instance Fleabag taking pictures in a disabled toilet of her private parts reminded me of a colleague bragging about all the photos she used to take in disabled toilet at work for another guy. She also showed me the ones he took for her which meant a subsequent lunch between the three of us felt a little more awkward than necessary.
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Ultimately it is a piece that is deservedly getting plenty of attention. It has already won the Fringe First award in Edinburgh and been nominated for best solo performer in this year’s Stage Awards for Acting Excellence. It has also been optioned for a television show by Two Brothers Pictures, best known for making Full English for Channel 4.
But for now it is on Upstairs at the Soho Theatre for a limited run until 22 September at 7pm. Grab a ticket if they are still available... Until the next run and guest performances...
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Photo credit: production photos from Edinburgh by Richard Davenport