Reviews

The Girl Who Thought She Was Irish

“My mother’s an alcoholic. I use the term loosely. Mother I mean.” So
begins Biddy O’Loughlin’s surprisingly engaging and thoroughly
charming show in which she tells us about her life growing up in Alice
Springs, Australia, later moving to Ireland where she felt she’d be
more at home.

What makes this little show so absorbing is the neatness of the
writing matched with the understated delivery. She stands on stage,
her hands by her sides, and just talks. Occasionally she sings.
Although she touches on the kinds of subjects – catholic guilt (“the
internal monologue in my head was a broken record of apologies to
God”), losing her virginity, cultural stereotypes – which have homes
in many an Edinburgh show, she makes us really care about her story
and engage with her personality. I could have happily spent a day
listening to her.

Referring to her search for identity towards the end of this
delightful hour, she tells us “I’ll figure it out but it probably
wasn’t such a good idea to write a fringe show about it.” She’s wrong.
I hope we see her here again.

– Benet Catty