MELBOURNE COMEDY FESTIVAL 2018
Maddie Rice
in Fleabag
International
act (UK)
Stars: ****
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Review also published in Herald Sun Comedy Festival (Arts) online on Fri March 30, 2018. KH
 |
| Maddie Rice in Fleabag - credit Richard Davenport |
Maddie
Rice’s character in the comic-tragic monologue, Fleabag, is a hypersexual,
boozy 20-something who is vulgar, funny, dislikeable, deeply flawed – and
seriously sad.
Almost everything she says or does is offensive, and
it is difficult to repress howls of horror or hilarity – depending on your
perspective – as she describes her drunken hook-ups, bizarre behaviour, dysfunctional
relationships and her shameful secret.
Rice’s performance is audacious and her delivery seamless
in this theatrical piece written, and originally performed, by UK comedy
wunderkind, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who then transformed it into a hit TV series
of the same name.
Fleabag is a self-absorbed, self-confessed ‘bad
feminist’ who is obsessed with sex – meaningless sex – and who calculates her
self-worth by her ability to attract men – any men, lots of men – no matter how
little she fancies them.
Rice perches on a stool for the entire hour, relating
Fleabag’s outrageous narrative that introduces us to her guinea pig themed cafe
that she ran with her best friend, Boo, until recently when Boo met her
untimely and startling death.
She populates the story with characters from Fleabag’s
life: her nervy, successful sister; her negligent father; Harry, her absent
lover; the rodent-faced bloke she picks up on a train; and old Joe, the
relentlessly cheerful, regular cafe customer.
Fleabag’s audacity and grotesquery will leave you
gaping, so be prepared to laugh, or be appalled, or both.
At The Coopers Malthouse, Sturt St. Southbank, until April 22.
DIRECTION & DRAMATURGY/ Vicky Jones
PERFORMED BY / Maddie Rice
DESIGNER /
Holly Pigott
SOUND DESIGN & COMPOSITION/ Isobel
Waller-Bridge LIGHTING
DESIGN / Elliot Griggs
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