Skip to main content

Camden Fringe Review: Note to Self by Theatreweb at Camden People's Theatre, London

Anyone who has read my reviews for a while will know that I always try to take the best of things from shows more than the worst, I realise that for every show I see, no one sets out to make a bad one, that would just be insane. So Note To Self leaves me therefore in a bit of a quandary as while there were many people lapping it up during the performance, guffawing at every opportunity, it was to be totally honest not very good.

I think it has the feel of being a woman's play, therefore, I suppose I might not be its target audience, however, there was a chance of making this an effective little piece describing as it attempts to the life of a webcam girl balancing work and her normal life. Unfolding rather bizarrely in the room of her sleeping boyfriend (we are encouraged by performer Hanna Winter to be silent on our entry), who is actually either dead in reality or more likely rolled-up sheets as he never plays any part. The charade of our silence it pretty pointless as well as once the show begins, the need for calm is quickly dispersed.

Winter has a likeable delivery and relationship with the audience and manages to form a coherent repartee at times, but the strength is never there to make this lightweight material flow. Taking a mix of puerile sexual humour coupled with some holier than thou dialogue, it really is insubstantial stuff, serving little in the way of making the female point of view and if anything weakening the argument with the casualness it employs.

It wasn't without its moments though, the ice cream scene was mostly entertaining, but even that highlighted that really despite its occasional thoughts of being a grand moral piece, it really never was going to be as clever as it clearly wanted to be.

So, many of the audience loved it, however, I think mostly for the flimsy reasons that almost anyone will laugh at rude sexual jokes or a fart joke for instance to a certain extent, that doesn't make something good though to pretty much rely on them. However I hoped for a little better from this piece, and sadly I left thinking Note To Self had let pretty much everyone down as a missed opportunity to make a valid and very much needed point for all the ladies out there.

⋆⋆

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 9th August at Camden People's Theatre, London

Note To Self was performed during the Camden Fringe at Camden People's Theatre between Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th August, 2017.
For further details visit https://www.theatreweb.org/

Details about the Camden Fringe which runs until Sunday 27th August can be found at http://camdenfringe.com/

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes at Milton Keynes Theatre

Sir Matthew Bourne has rightfully become the doyen of accessible contemporary ballet, with his works spanning a wide range, from Swan Lake , Lord of the Flies , and Edward Scissorhands to The Red Shoes , now here at Milton Keynes on an extensive tour. Based broadly on the 1948 film of the same name, The Red Shoes , set across Europe, follows the story of ballerina Victoria Page, discovered by ballet impresario Boris Lermontov. He requests that a ballet based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale   The Red Shoes  be written by the  composer Julian Craster, whom Page falls deeply in love with. A conflict arises, and Page must choose between love and success. The first impact on any audience of The Red Shoes is visually on the costumes and set. This is, without any question, a spectacular staging. Lez Brotherston, responsible for both costumes and set, has created a gem. The striking costumes effectively recreate the period in minute detail, placing the audience very much in t...
Read more

Review of Friends - The Musical Parody at Milton Keynes Theatre

The One Where 2026 starts in a world of confusion. And so, 2026 is upon us and for my first trip to the theatre this year, one of my most significant reviewing challenges was to occur. Touring to Milton Keynes Theatre is Friends - The Musical Parody , based, unsurprisingly, on that little American show that ran to a few audience members for ten years. However, I confess that I was not, and have never been in that audience, never having seen a single episode of the show. However, always up for a review challenge and doing my due diligence by having a Friends superfan as my plus one, I headed to Milton Keynes with anticipation. For those unfamiliar with the show, I could say I can’t help; however, a quick review of some of the information you might need (thanks, Google and my plus one). Running for ten years between 1994 and 2004 with 236 episodes (quiz question, you are welcome), the main characters consisted of Phoebe (ditzy, writer of sad songs), Monica (in possession of an unfeasibly...
Read more

Review of The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband at The Playhouse Theatre, Northampton

During the interval of The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband , last weeks production at The Playhouse Theatre Northampton, I got involved in a conversation between a couple sitting next to me. The lady was very much of the opinion that the play was a comedy, while the gentleman, had formed one that it was a tragedy. They were joking of course in the conversation, but it did highlight the differences that Debbie Isitt's dark comedy might have between the sexes. And also now perhaps the passing of time. When this was written in the nineties, Isitt's play was a forthright feminist play, heralding the championing over of the ladies over the man. One the ex-wife plotting to cook him, the other, the new lover, potentially already very tired of him after just three years. The husband, Kenneth (Jem Clack) elopes initially in pursuit of sex with Laura (Diane Wyman), after his nineteen years of marriage with Hilary (Corinna Leeder) has become tired and passionless. Then later, he elopes ...
Read more