Reviews

Primadoona

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27 August 2010

Telling her autobiographical story of facing divorce after 15 years of marriage, a father who is dying of cancer and raising three children whilst a professional actress, you could be excused for thinking that Doon MacKichan‘s one-woman show would not be comic.

The double Emmy award winning comedienne, who is best known as writer and star of the Channel 4′ Smack the Pony, folds all of these elements into a frantically paced, hour-long comically engaging monologue. Showing herself as an accomplished physical performer, MacKichan gives us a window into her own life, filled with the characters around her. Her anonymous stalwart neighbour, “the boozy woman from next door”, is a particularly welcome addition to the cast.

Some of the slightly more surreal touches – the show is topped and tailed with MacKichan having a phone conversation with God – detract from a what is a startlingly honest account of a family’s battle with cancer, all the time struggling to get on with their everyday lives. A fantastic solo performance.