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Iron Maidens: Iron Fantasy at Soho Theatre

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Two women chase the elusive six-pack in Iron Fantasy, only to embark on an unexpected journey exploring what it truly means to be strong in today’s world. In a culture that demands visible strength and power, they subject themselves to lifting, protein powder-guzzling, and raw-egg drinking. Interestingly, consuming raw eggs elicited many squeamish reactions from members of the audience. None has obviously been to Cabaret to see Sally Bowles guzzle prairie oysters. But in the search for the attributes that make someone strong, a little more is revealed about being a young woman in the modern world. And that strength comes from a number of ways. It’s currently playing at the Soho Theatre .  It’s part performance, part musical, and part interviews, as writer-performers Shamira Turner and Eugénie Pastor, who make up the theatre performance duo She Goat, don a variety of silly costumes and play a range of musical instruments on their journey researching strength, fighting, and pumping i...

Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall.

The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery. 

Production photo

If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could make a lot more sense. The musical numbers seem to be more about exposition and scene setting than anything else, and to borrow from another quirky musical, Urinetown, when Officer Lockstock tells Sally in the opening number, "You're too young to understand it now, but nothing can kill a show like too much exposition." 

Despite the show's shortcomings, the idea of a gentle plant yearning for a life beyond its pot is an amusing one. Co-writer, director, composer, and Potty Plant performer Baden Burns infuses the character with a sense of timing and sincerity that the rest of the show could benefit from. All Potty needs is a proper adventure. 

Directed by Baden Burns and with musical direction by Zach Burns, Potty The Plant concludes at Wilton's Music Hall on 28 June. It heads off to the Edinburgh Fringe again this summer. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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