Fleabag at Soho Theatre

Following the mass success of the Bafta award-winning BBC Series, DryWrite and Soho Theatre are about to hit the stage with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s cult hit Fleabag, next week at Brighton’s The Old Market.  Having been an avid fan of the last series, I am more than excited to see what the original stripped back production is like and check out the sharpness of the script.

The show struck me with its refreshingly honest depiction of sex, something which I have rarely seen in television since HBO’s Girls a few years back. Awkwardly stumbling her way through a young woman’s twenty-somethings, the play follows ‘Fleabag’ as she encounters everyday struggles that a female swallowed up in the midst of London must go through.  Balancing relationships with family and friends, running a guinea-pig themed café and trying to sustain this overall image of ‘togetherness’ that we as women are almost always taught to have, Fleabag offers an honest, insightful and overall hilarious production that I am extremely eager to see brought to the stage.

Directed by Vicky Jones and starring Maddie Rice it will be interesting to see how versatile and adaptable the character of Fleabag is considering Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s iconic portrayal of the character. I wonder how Maddie Rice will divert from this performance, and how the production will compare to the TV series bearing in mind the lack of set, scene transitions and absence of other characters. The relationship with the audience is particularly important as Fleabag continues to address us with her dynamic storytelling. It will also pave the way for a bond between the audience and herself, generating empathy for some of the darker themes explored in the play.

The play’s visceral approach to something very real is what most intrigues me. Having not seen anything like it, nor a play with solely one actor in it, I really want to see how the production plays out, and what affect it will have audience.

 

Fleabag – The Old Market

Date & Time: Tue 5 – Sat 9 Jun, 8pm (doors 7.15pm)

Tickets: £18 (£14 conc.)

Age: 16+ only

Duration: 65 mins (no interval)

 

Feature image credit: Jonny Birch

Images in article credit: Richard Davenport

Categories: Arts Theatre

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