★★★★

“This is very dark stuff, delivered with panache and pace”

Libby Rodliffe first introduced her character Bea, a young woman juggling three jobs, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024. There, it ran to sell-out audiences and notched up great reviews.

Jobsworth is now having a run at the Park Theatre and this one-woman show, co written by Rodliffe and Isley Lynn, deserves every accolade I hope it gets. It is an extraordinary tour de force for Rodliffe who delivers non-stop laughs and multiple personalities, each with their own distinct accent and characteristics, over a roller coaster 90 minute performance.

Like other notable female monologues, mostly Fleabag (onstage) and Prima Facie, Jobsworth delivers a serious message, even if dressed up as comedy. This time the target is the gig economy and the uphill task of making ends meet while working for impossible employers demanding absolute commitment for the minimum living wage. Anyone sitting cosily in a well-paid permanent job escapes this position purely by a twist of fate.

Bea can manage this situation because she has wit and will, can turn on a coin and she cares. Slowly revealed in the background are her parents adding extra stress (and quite a few laughs to the mix – her father takes snakes for a walk on a leash, just to give you an idea). They have their own problems and Bea is trying to help them. So the screw slowly turns towards an explosive ending.

This is very dark stuff, delivered with panache and pace. Director Nicky Allpress has kept everything simple. The set (Matthew Cassar) is a simple white oval desk overhung with a string of round paper lampshades which change colour to punctuate, with sound tones, the turns and reversals.

If I have one criticism it is that the pace is so fast that I often found myself confused by what was happening and which character was being presented at any one moment. Over the course of the performance this became less of a problem. The differences became more apparent as we got to know the non-existent cast.

Nevertheless, this is an important commentary on our times, delivered with extraordinary versatility by Rodliffe and sharp humour to make us sit up and take notice – as we should.

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX 

Riverside Studios

★★★

“The performances by Paris and Tina Rizzo remain as strong throughout”

No one who is actually fine says ‘I’m fine’. A line we hear often in life, and more than once in Bettina Paris’ play “Sisyphean Quick Fix”. So, when London-based struggling actor, Krista, asks her sister how their father is – and she responds with a shoulder-shrugging ‘he’s fine’ – we know that’s not true. The sister, Pip (Tina Rizzo), still lives in Malta where they grew up. Krista left to pursue her dream, which is on the cusp of being attained although she is currently a penniless, stressed barmaid. The siblings have comparisons and contrasts. Pip is a career woman, dresses smartly and has the luxury of slowly chewing over a marriage proposal. Krista meanwhile is unlucky in love and life but unbound by expectations. What they do share, however, is a strong childhood bond. And an alcoholic father. The feelings of responsibility are equal, but what is contentious is each other’s share of the burden (especially as Krista lives far away). The play steers through the minefield of emotions as their father’s illness deteriorates.

Paris herself plays Krista and, apparently, the subject is based on real life experience. She has a natural onstage presence that puts us at ease. The opening scenes are light-hearted and full of expressive and witty dialogue that firmly establishes the sisters’ strong bond and affectionate rivalry. Nicky Allpress’ slick and intuitive direction creates two separate worlds that eventually converge into one. Initially, Oliver McNally’s lighting separates these worlds, bathing Pip’s Malta in a rusty glow while Krista’s London has the cold, hazy hues of the ‘Big Smoke’. A middle ground is found when Krista travels back to Malta.

Unfortunately, it is in the middle ground where the writing starts to get too comfortable. And the stakes don’t feel quite as high as they should. The performances by Paris and Tina Rizzo remain as strong throughout, but the offstage characters come to us second-hand without really coming to life. They wonderfully show us the effects their father has on their lives, yet the complexities of the causes remain underexplored, weakening the heart of the matter. The focus is still very much on Pip and Krista. And a wonderful, honest portrayal of their relationship it is. But although we get a sense of the sacrifices they make, we don’t feel the force of the circumstances that drive their decisions.

Ubiquitous questions surface: ‘could we have done more?’ or ‘we’re going to be okay?’ – the latter weighed down by its oversized question mark. Admittedly there are no definitive answers but in this play the questions seem a touch unearned. The title alludes to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top – repeating the action for eternity. In contemporary culture, tasks that are considered laborious or futile are described as Sisyphean. “Sisyphean Quick Fix”, however, is quite the opposite. Played out in short, fractured scenes there is an effortlessness to the staging that deals with an important, pertinent and universal topic. Which paradoxically also creates the problem – we don’t fully grasp the real struggle. The finely crafted writing needs just a few more sharp edges for it to cut through beyond the skin.

JOBSWORTH

Park Theatre

★★★★

“This is very dark stuff, delivered with panache and pace”

JOBSWORTH

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 21st November 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Harry Elletson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

JOBSWORTH

JOBSWORTH

JOBSWORTH

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX

Riverside Studios

★★★

“The performances by Paris and Tina Rizzo remain as strong throughout”