★★★

“struggles to know itself: its heavy in content, but its comedy is competitive, rather than complementary”

‘(This is not a) Happy Room’ is rammed with content, much of which is very funny. For all that content, though, it lacks substance.

Let us start with the good. Written by Rosie Day, and directed by Hannah Price, the concept for the piece is promising: a wedding which quickly devolves into a funeral. It’s an intriguing set up, allowing for some Aristotelian compliance: all the action takes place in the wedding-cum-funeral venue, and all in the space of about 24 hours. Yet, the tragicomic offerings of this narrative are misused, and it struggled to emotionally engage.

Much of the dialogue does amuse, especially in conjunction with Jonny Weldon’s physical eccentricities and excellent timing as attention-starved hypochondriac Simon. Amanda Abbington, too, is classy and cutting as matriarch Esther, expertly combatting her adult-children’s whines and self-indulgent pathologies (though I’m not sure she was meant to be the most sympathetic figure – more on this later). Alison Liney as dementia-ridden Great Aunt Agatha and Tom Kanji as Laura’s (Andrea Valls) husband Charles, also regale with some excellent comedy moments.

A pressing concern with this play, however, is in its characters: ‘(This is not a) Happy Room’ is an unrelenting piece of naturalistic theatre, which becomes rather monotonous in this pursuit. Without an interlude to chop up this type of drama – please, dear god, bring back the Interval – this style of dialogue loses pace and organisation. What’s more, naturalistic dialogue of this ilk screams out for nuance in its characters. To sustain itself, naturalism must present fascinating, idiosyncratic and nuanced people at its centre. Most of the characters in this piece veered in and out of cliche. This was particularly apparent in the women, especially the daughters, Laura and Elle. They typified the trend that is becoming alarmingly common: a kind of fetishised narcissist. Both women were vapid and nasty, with Elle parading ignorance and idiocy with proud ostentation. It’s not cute, and I fear does little for feminism.

The figure of real sympathy is Abbington’s Esther, beleaguered and criticised incessantly by her children, she’s painted as the therapy-denying, stern British mother, who believes most mental illness is just a natural response to the drudgeries of life. But as a mother and maternal figure, she is seemingly vilified. Indeed, some compelling questions are raised regarding motherhood and the ‘selflessness’ narrative of motherhood, but the ways in which these were navigated felt incomplete.

As the play develops, it gets littered with traumas, few of which are divulged in a way which forwards the conversation. Without more specific family detail, it’s hard not to see the Hendersons as symptomatic of many a repressed British household, rather than one of spectacular dysfunction. This show struggles to know itself: its heavy in content, but its comedy is competitive, rather than complementary. ‘(This is not a) Happy Room’ is certainly very watchable, and it will make you laugh, but as a drama, it flounders somewhat.

WEATHER GIRL

Soho Theatre

★★★½

“It has that kind of unhinged chaotic quality that has become an excellent currency for the funnies”

‘Weather Girl’, from the same producer (Francesca Moody) of ‘Baby Reindeer’ and ‘Fleabag’ fame, is a one-woman cyclone of unhinged peppiness and untethered feminine rage. And Julia McDermott, who plays Stacey Gross the ‘Weather Girl’, is increasingly engulfed by it, much like California itself, whose fires she reports on.

Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, ‘Weather Girl’ is essentially a 70-minute monologue charting Stacey’s psychotic breakdown. And yet, it’s hard not to identify with her derangement. As Stacey, looking like Elle Woods’ protégé, sips prosecco from her Stanley cup, numbing the drones of the male morons who surround her, her actions seem rather justified. The wilful ignorance of those around her abounds; no one respects her or pays her increasingly desperate statements seriously; the world is burning, and people are stupid: does her insanity not appear a hyper-normal response?

The weather Stacey reports on portends apocalypse, and yet, in the last few months in the real world, has become but more prescient. Her part of California, Fresno, is suffering frequent natural disaster-level fire, and drought is on the rampage. The feeling of divine retribution is explicit here.

Nothing about this production is erroneous or feels like a misstep. The staging (Isabella Byrd) is sparse, arranged with cameras and ring lights; it possesses a meta-quality. It’s versatile, complemented greatly by the lighting (and smoke machine) which manages to conjure pathetic fallacy at all turns– it is a show about weather, remember.

The lighting – with the aid of that smoke machine – obscures and darkens the stage as the show progresses, and a magical realism seeps in. I won’t divulge anything more, except that it involves a reunion with Stacey’s mother, who is homeless and usually high, but seems to possess a kind of witchy power that augments her vagabond otherness.

But despite its bleak messaging, ‘Weather Girl’ screams in dark humour. It has that kind of unhinged chaotic quality that has become an excellent currency for the funnies, especially when depicted by women.

One dramaturgical question did arise for me: having reviewed several one-person shows, I still question why? McDermott is wonderful, with constant command of the room, and working harmoniously with Brian Watkin’s nuanced script. But Aeschylus did introduce the second actor for a reason: I feel that rarely would a show’s quality be lessened by introducing a second actor. That said, whilst I don’t think ‘Weather Girl’ justified the one-person show, it certainly excelled within the framework. The Valley Girl accent does also feel a little akin to having pencils thrown at your face for an hour. But you soon get used to that.

‘Weather Girl’ is the kind of art that reaffirms that theatre is and can be polemical without being explicitly didactic or dogmatic. And the world is burning, literally, but just as much metaphorically. We should probably be reminded of that more often, because feeling untethered from reality is fast becoming a refuge of sanity.

(THIS IS NOT A) HAPPY ROOM

King’s Head Theatre

★★★

“struggles to know itself: its heavy in content, but its comedy is competitive, rather than complementary”

(THIS IS NOT A) HAPPY ROOM

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed on 31st March 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

(THIS IS NOT A) HAPPY ROOM

(THIS IS NOT A) HAPPY ROOM

(THIS IS NOT A) HAPPY ROOM

WEATHER GIRL

Soho Theatre

★★★½

“It has that kind of unhinged chaotic quality that has become an excellent currency for the funnies”

WEATHER GIRL

Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 12th March 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

WEATHER GIRL

WEATHER GIRL

WEATHER GIRL