Karla Gowlett Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★★

“Even IKEA is not safe from these satirical sirens”

Flat and the Curves are an enterprising quartet of entertainers who will remind you of the iconic Fascinating Aïda. Flat and the Curves have powerful voices, with lots of range, and can belt out a tune in anything from opera to ABBA. They bring both an old-fashioned glamour, plus a more modern Gen Z vibe to the cabaret stage. But there the comparison ends. Where Fascinating Aïda was the kind of girl group you could take your granny to, Flat and the Curves? Maybe not. Then again, grannies these days know how to get their groove on, so perhaps you should gather up your favourite grans and take them to see Flat and the Curves for a raunchily good, girls night out. “Family” fun this group is not. Flat and the Curves are an anarchic group of singer/comediennes calling out the habits of cis/het men and dumping them, metaphorically speaking, in the trash. And it’s about time.

This talented group is Arabella Rodrigo, Charlotte Brooke, Katy Baker and Issy Wroe Wright. If the names seem familiar, that’s because these performers already have impressive musical comedy resumés. And it’s a genius move to put them together as Flat and the Curves. The songs in this pre-Edinburgh Festival show range from memories of meeting a female soulmate in the loo (as you do), to not so soulful memories of “being taken up the Shard” on one’s anniversary. Don’t make me go there. There is a song with a 90s vibe about menstruation — a “period” piece according to Arabella— and again, don’t make me go there. There are lots of songs about sex, not surprisingly, including a clever riff using Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo Choo to sing about hen dos. There are songs about dating apps. “You’re the App of My Eye.” “Get Me Some Romance” is a heartfelt torch song begging men to be gentlemen. It almost tops the brilliantly operatic rendition of an earlier song about porn, entitled, and I kid you not, “When A Woman Comes First”. Most of the songs in this show are about living in a world with men and their less endearing habits. Flat and the Curves call them out soundly. Think these ladies won’t go there? Think again. Even IKEA is not safe from these satirical sirens.

In short, Flat and the Curves are all about presenting a hugely entertaining evening. But they’re also educational. No really. I learned a lot. And I’m sure the men in the audience did, too. Even in a super warm cabaret space with noisy fans that did nothing to lower the temperature, the audience still jumped to its feet and applauded loudly at the end of the show. I confidently predict that Edinburgh will welcome Flat and the Curves just as enthusiastically.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Karla Gowlett

Superstar

Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 28th November 2019

★★★★

“It’s Wren’s warm and engaging delivery that makes this so delightful to observe”

What would you do if your older brother was the lead singer of one of the world’s biggest rock bands? Ride on their name, or strive to carve out your own career, purely on the merit of your own talent? Well, Nicola Wren faced such a dilemma. In an entertaining divulgence into her life, Wren ‘writes what she knows’ into a frank autobiographical one woman show that is tantalising.

Nicola was an accident. A few too many sherries on Christmas Day type of accident, where nine months later she was welcomed unexpectedly into the Martin household. The youngest of four other offspring, she was constantly playing catch up. Each of her siblings had found their ‘thing’ and it wasn’t until Nicola was on stage as Rabbit No.3 in her local village play that she knew she had found her calling. She was going to be an actor. No, a superstar. Everyone said so. Although, there was one thing that kept getting in the way. Her brother was the lead singer of this band called Coldplay and for some reason he kept getting all this attention… Through the ups and downs of crushed dreams and little triumphs, Nicola faces major reality checks and time to question her purpose in life.

Wren may have been driven to the point of changing her surname to stop the questions about Chris Martin, but this isn’t a play just about begrudging a celebrity brother’s fame. Instead, all of Nicola’s siblings feature as she shifts the narrative to the more universal and relatable theme of how it feels being the youngest, always having to prove themselves.

There’s plenty of in-jokes for the fellow struggling performers or theatre luvvies in the audience, which may go over the heads of the uninitiated, but this shouldn’t lessen any of the enjoyment or laughs through this show. Wren is as adept with physical comedy as she is finding the moments of thoughtful reflection and poignancy.

The set (Cara Evans) is reminiscent of what an eight-year old dreaming of fame would want: Flashing lights and tinsel curtains a la Saturday night TV game shows. A single clothes rail gives Nicola relished moments to put on costumes and reminisce over her previous ‘stellar’ acting roles, which sounds more pretentious than it turns out to be. Fortunately. That aside, the stage is fairly barren, giving space for Nicola’s brazen persona to bounce around.

The style of a show within a show has been used countless times by many solo performers, yet Wren does it solidly well, finding a way of making it her own and being completely self-aware about it. Other solo show staples like audience participation slip their way in, but are executed in an unobtrusive and natural manner.

Nicola is an extremely watchable entity. Full of charismatic charm, she wins you over and makes it impossible to dislike. Her life story is not hard-hitting or gritty, her predicaments hardly challenging, but it’s Wren’s warm and engaging delivery that makes this so delightful to observe.

Toulouse Lautrec

Reviewed – 8th July 2022

★★★★★

“Even IKEA is not safe from these satirical sirens”

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Karla Gowlett

Flat & The Curves

Did you see these shows we reviewed in June?:

Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 28th November 2019

★★★★

“It’s Wren’s warm and engaging delivery that makes this so delightful to observe”

Nicola is an extremely watchable entity. Full of charismatic charm, she wins you over and makes it impossible to dislike. Her life story is not hard-hitting or gritty, her predicaments hardly challenging, but it’s Wren’s warm and engaging delivery that makes this so delightful to observe.

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

Photography by Karla Gowlett

Superstar

Southwark Playhouse until 21st December

Previously reviewed at this venue: