Here’s to any show interested in telling the story of Nell Gwynne.
What I didn't like
It would have been so much more interesting to cast actors to play the parts and then let the story unfold rather than ask us to sit through a show where we the story is recited to us. Also, the dildo – that feels like overkill.
My overall impression
You have this potentially solid actress, a knack for writing in iambic pentameter [and other metres] and a wonderful theatrical figure to work with and yet the show gets lost in a need to be overly clever. It opens on a confusing note with a flyer featuring six actors and an asterisk that notes the appearance of five out of those cannot be guaranteed. Then the writer/director explains that the five quit due to complaints – that doesn’t set us up for a fantastic start. The play eventually gets going but before it gets far, we get lost in history that is presented to us as a lesson straight out of Coursera or a Great Courses selection – only here it is told in an often-challenging-to-follow cockney accent. The creator of the show gets carried away with costume changes, dildo jokes, and ‘comic’ physical acting that includes getting hit in the face with ‘whiskey’ repeatedly and this air-infused sumo suit. Before the end of the piece, the sofa [that had been featured in a previous show for this reviewer on the same day] was soaked with water and what we assume was iced tea and that seemed entirely unnecessary [here’s hoping the other shows don’t have to contend with water stained couches].