Theatre Evaluation: Liz Kingsman’s One Lady Present – you’ll by no means take a look at a philodendron the identical method once more

When sitting all the way down to evaluate ’s critically acclaimed on the Sydney Opera Home, the actual problem is making an attempt to not reveal an excessive amount of whereas concurrently describing one of many funniest comedic performances you’ll see this 12 months.

Written and carried out by Kingsman and directed by , makes use of self-deprecating, observational humour to make sure the viewers stays in a state of rolling laughter for the complete seventy-minute run time.

Kingsman adopts a non-linear fashion of storytelling, leaping from the current to the previous to the present-past and the distant previous with seamless timing. This strategy is aided largely by the intelligent lighting and sound design which helps to information the viewers by the maze of phrases and anecdotes.

This spectacular scattergun narrative exposes the irritating and at occasions nonsensical tropes typically related to feminine storytelling. Two ladies who reside collectively – they have to sit round of their underwear speaking about males on a regular basis and that lady who’s moody, distant and borderline depressed – nicely, she’s simply quirky. And have you ever ever actually thought of simply how loud and absurd these pod espresso machines are? Trigger you’ll now.

Whereas these correct observations had been exaggerated and performed up for laughs, there was a component of reality and exasperation behind it. Kingsman’s work is a parody but it surely additionally manages to make persuasive social commentary about ladies’s tales and the way so typically the roles afforded to ladies are those they create for themselves.

I’m reluctant to delve too deeply into the precise story itself – for anybody intending on seeing (which ought to be everybody), it will be one big spoiler. A big a part of what made this efficiency so hilarious was the not realizing. It was not possible to foretell how the story was going to finish, or the place Kingsman was planning on taking you subsequent, the one factor that was sure, was that you just had been grateful to be alongside for the experience.

Kingsman is a genius and is storytelling at its finest. Witty, cheeky and oddly relatable, this might herald a brand new period of ladies taking centre stage and I’m right here for it.

FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)