★★★★✰
Post-Fleabag, the one-woman show has had a bit of a renaissance. In fact, it seems as if we’re coming out of the other side, as seen in Liz Kingsman’s smash hit takedown of the genre. However, Almost Adult, an exploration of the horrors of big cities and everyday sexism, is an extremely good example of the format. Funny, moving and perfectly performed by Charlotte Anne-Tilley, it delivers emotional punches and dinosaur jokes in spades.
Following 20-year-old Hope’s move to London, the show takes aim at predatory managers, corporate culture, the perils of speaking out and the sense of dislocation upon moving to a big city. It rattles through these topics with an admirable mix of one-liners and deeply emotional scenes; although, sometimes the mixture is unbalanced, and the audience is not quite sure whether to laugh or not. Nevertheless, some of these moments form the highpoint of the show: the contrast between Hope in the club and her discussion with Beth outside is a sucker punch to the audience, and deepens our understanding of the character and the world she—and we—have to live in.
Sometimes spoken references to the #MeToo movement seem a bit shoehorned in, and an explicit political statement is not in line with the rest of the piece, which subtly and cleverly reveals the processes of misogyny throughout. Regardless, it is difficult to pull off a show which manages to hit emotional and comedic beats expertly, but Anne-Tilley’s script has done it.
As a performer, Anne-Tilley also shines. Maintaining that level of energy over seventy minutes is genuinely impressive, as are her abilities to switch between emotional levels at the drop of a hat. The characters that Hope interacts with are mostly well-characterised, and her conversations with the various women of Hope’s life are brilliantly acted. The movement sections that intersplice each scene are entertaining—even if overused and sometimes feel like filler. But they are always performed with commitment and excellent comic touch.
Anne-Tilley proves herself to be a chameleonic performer, able to inhabit multiple characters, emotions and physicalities at the drop of a hat. With the added talent of having written the script, she reveals herself as a multi-talented one to watch.
Despite some unnecessary directorial choices and a few unrealistic moments of dialogue, Almost Adult is amongst the best of the one-woman-show formula. Offering a realistic take on the perils of your early twenties, it deftly annihilates sexism and alienation through comedy, stillness, and the always committed talents of its performer. Rather than being a dinosaur of a format, it proves there’s life in the messy woman genre yet.
Words by Issy Flower
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