★★★★★

“a relentless rollercoaster of laughter and spectacle”

Dweeb-A-Mania is an electrifying burst of theatrical joy — a letter to every young mind that dares to be different. From the moment you enter, the air crackles with expectation, promising a show that doesn’t just invite you in, but sweeps you up in its nerd-charged energy.

The immersive, in-the-round staging is the production’s stroke of genius. The actors don’t merely enter—they emerge from all four sides, instantly drawing everyone into the story. We are not mere spectators in the world of Kemi and Norah, the titular “mega-nerds”; we are guests in their sanctum.

The cast brings the story vividly to life. Playing the “mega-nerd” best friends, Norah (Amy Blake) and Kemi (Chidera Ikechukwu) are a delight, capturing both the intellectual swagger and the social vulnerability of bright teenagers with heartwarming authenticity. Their friendship—with its fierce loyalty and small, corrosive lies—feels painfully real.

The entrance of the popular boy, Bentley, hits like a theatrical lightning bolt. Tom Storey, who plays Bentley, commands the space with charismatic swagger, perfectly disrupting the nerds’ ordered world. His performance—along with several others—uses a heightened, physically expressive style, perfectly pitched for the young audience and ensuring every comedic and emotional beat lands clearly across the entire 360-degree space. Grace Carroll, as Lily, also adds delightful moments to the story.

Hannah Stone’s direction is a triumph of precision and pace. Managing narrative flow in such an exposed configuration is no easy task, yet she orchestrates the action flawlessly. The 50-minute runtime flies by on a relentless rollercoaster of laughter and spectacle. Scene changes are smooth and dynamic, while minimalist set design (Katie Lias) is a masterstroke—providing a scaffold for young imaginations to run wild. The energy is further lifted by pulsating electronic score (Ellie Isherwood) and sharp lighting design (Jane Lalljee). You never feel you’ve missed a moment, even when an actor’s back is turned.

Sarah Middleton’s award-winning script is a marvel, and it’s easy to see why it stood out. Every seemingly throwaway line is a carefully planted seed, paying off brilliantly in the climactic sequence. The eruption of “smoke donuts” and a volley of rubber chickens provoke a chorus of delighted screams from children and anarchic cheers from adults alike.

If the dialogue occasionally sprints ahead of its youngest viewers, it never loses its charm. Dweeb-A-Mania proves that smart theatre for young audiences can still be wild, anarchic fun.

Overall, Dweeb-A-Mania is more than a play—it’s a celebration of the smart, the quirky, and the unapologetically passionate. It entertains, inspires, and builds a temporary but beautiful community of nerds. An unequivocal triumph.

SON OF A BITCH

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“sharp and funny solo show that offers a refreshingly candid take on motherhood”

Anna Morris’s darkly comic one-woman play Son of a Bitch arrives at Southwark Playhouse following a successful run at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With a provocative title and an intriguing premise, the show delves into themes of motherhood, societal pressure, and personal regret, balancing sharp humour with moments of introspection.

The play follows Marnie (played by Morris), a yoga instructor in her late 30s, whose life is upended when a fellow passenger records her calling her young son the C-word during a flight. The video goes viral, but rather than focusing on the fallout of this moment, the narrative primarily explores the lead-up to this event, questioning the unspoken realities of motherhood.

Morris delivers an energetic and engaging performance, effortlessly slipping into the various characters that populate Marnie’s world. From her overbearing northern mother to her intensely posh flatmate, Morris’s character work is sharply observed and often very funny. The writing brims with witty one-liners, earning consistent laughs; a line about men who look like prawns and another about depressed women in bathtubs get particularly loud chuckles. There’s a definite influence of stand-up comedy in Morris’s delivery, adding a lively rhythm to the script.

Under Madelaine Moore’s direction, the production is tightly paced and effectively staged, ensuring that the transitions between past and present feel fluid and dynamic. Visually, the production is cleverly designed. The set consists of corporate blue carpeted flooring, a white chair at its centre, and two curved “C” shape structures forming a circular shape behind it; an effective nod both to the claustrophobic setting of an aeroplane and a visual play on the word Marnie uses against her child. Lighting Design by Megan Lucas subtly shifts to reflect different moods: cold and corporate one moment, then warm and golden as Marnie parodies the ‘glow’ of motherhood. Another standout element is the use of captioning, also designed by Lucas. Displayed in a rectangular screen above the stage, the captions adapt in font and style to represent different speakers and even simulate text messages, demonstrating a well-thought-out integration of accessibility and storytelling.

The narrative structure of Son of a Bitch mirrors the spiralling nature of Marnie’s situation, moving fluidly between past and present. While this approach effectively builds intrigue, it could sometimes do with further clarity, with a multitude of names and details occasionally jumping around too loosely. Additionally, while Marnie’s husband is positioned as an unsympathetic figure – choosing to upgrade himself to business class rather than sit with his wife and child – his character feels somewhat two-dimensional, leaving questions about why these two people were together in the first place.

Beneath the humour, the play raises compelling questions about societal expectations of motherhood. A particularly striking moment comes when Marnie is asked whether she would regret not having children, only for her to subvert the question and ask what would happen instead if she regrets having one. There’s also an underexplored but poignant subplot involving a gay friend who reveals that his lack of children wasn’t a choice, but something he had to grieve. These moments hint at deeper, thought-provoking themes, though at times they feel fleeting.

While the play is consistently engaging, its pacing remains largely unchanged throughout. Moments that could have built towards greater emotional intensity or a stronger sense of escalation maintain the same rhythm, which at times lessens the dramatic impact. However, Morris’s charisma ensures the piece remains compelling. She establishes an immediate rapport with the audience, and her command of comedy ensures that the story is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.

Overall, this is a sharp and funny solo show that offers a refreshingly candid take on motherhood. While its central premise is striking, the surrounding narrative could delve deeper into its themes. Nonetheless, Morris’s performance is magnetic, making this an enjoyable and insightful performance.

DWEEB-A-MANIA

Polka Theatre

★★★★★

“a relentless rollercoaster of laughter and spectacle”

DWEEB-A-MANIA

Polka Theatre

Reviewed on 10th October 2025

by Portia Yuran Li

Photography by Jake Bush and Adela Ursachi

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DWEEB-A-MANIA

DWEEB-A-MANIA

DWEEB-A-MANIA

SON OF A BITCH

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“sharp and funny solo show that offers a refreshingly candid take on motherhood”

SON OF A BITCH

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 18th February 2025

by Joseph Dunitz

Photography by Steve Gregson

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

SON OF A BITCH

SON OF A BITCH

SON OF A BITCH

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