DramaFringe TheatreReviews

Review: At Least I’m Not Bald, Lion and Unicorn Theatre

summary

Rating

Excellent

Valery Reva takes us on an emotional tour of her cancer diagnosis and treatment back home in Ukraine, while reminding us that, sometimes, laughter is the best medicine.

Valery Reva‘s previous work, InSecure, explored her anxieties at being away from family and friends back in Ukraine during a time of war. It was packed with emotion, and proved Reva could create something interesting, funny and poignant out of such an awful situation. And, as if the ongoing, seemingly endless, war was not enough, a cancer diagnosis was then added to the list of things she needed to worry about. But out of such darkness comes light: she’s a writer who uses this dreadful experience to create art. And so comes At Least I’m Not Bald.

The show takes a similar format to InSecure, and Reva demonstrates once again that she is both a fine writer and a more than versatile performer. She delivers her story in a variety of styles, from over the top hammed-up acting, to beautifully intimate moments, and laugh-out-loud silliness. Sometimes she is serious as she laments on and lets us into her fears; sometimes whimsical, as she shows that you can smile and laugh about anything with the right technique. She takes us through her lowest moments, contemplating her own mortality, but then brings us back to the present as we laugh at the mundanity of life. Her list of “rules for how to tell friends you have cancer” is both funny and painfully true, whilst the rhyming couplets she employs to represent the doctors and surgery are not only clever, but beautifully lyrical.

Assisting in keeping this one woman show flowing and visually engaging are Kapil Redekar’s direction and Benita C. Lambrechts’ movement direction. Both ensure Reva is never in one place for too long, moving her around the simple set of two chairs and a surgical curtain. That curtain does a lot of work: besides contributing to the hospital setting, it acts marvellously as a backdrop for some shadow play, from both sides. Reva’s re-enactment of the witch in her fantasy done behind the curtain is perhaps the visual highlight of the whole show.

This one-off London performance feels very much like a test run ahead of an upcoming Edinburgh Fringe run, so it may change before it makes its way across the border. If so, it might be advisable to consider toning down the volume in places; Reva has a powerful and beautiful voice, but when she shouts, some of the clarity is lost. More importantly, it might be helpful to introduce an audience to the fact she hails from Ukraine (and returns there for medical treatment) more clearly early on, as that information plays such an important part in understanding her story. Without such knowledge, it could be all too easy to get lost when she talks about incidents like the time she found herself in the basement of the hospital when the air raid sirens went off.

At Least I’m Not Bald proves that we can laugh even when we are scared and sad, wondering why the world can be such an unfair place. I hope that, whatever Reva does next, it isn’t born from even more tragic events in her life; I’m sure she could write just fine without! Having been privileged to watch Reva in both her shows, it’s impossible not to feel the emotional impact she delivers, but her pride in her “long, beautiful, sexy hair” makes it even harder not to smile and laugh along as well.


Written by: Valery Reva
Directed by: Kapil Redekar
Movement direction by: Benita C. Lambrechts

At Least I’m Not Bald has completed its run at Lion and Unicorn Theatre. It next plays at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 29 July – 11 August, at C Arts C Venues. Further information and tickets available here.

Rob Warren

Someone once described Rob as "the left leaning arm of Everything Theatre" and it's a description he proudly accepted. It is also a description that explains many of his play choices, as he is most likely to be found at plays that try to say something about society. Willing though to give most things a watch, with the exception of anything immersive - he prefers to sit quietly at the back watching than taking part!

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