★★★★
You wouldn’t have thought that listening to a woman rant about toilets for the best part of an hour could be entertaining, yet The Interval will prove you wrong. A one-woman show told by a disillusioned theatre usher (Rhona Ashwood) who is ranting about the incompetence of the general public and her annoying manager Tim, it is bound to resonate with anyone who has worked a customer service job.
Taking place in the interval of a theatre performance, the usher is selling ice creams (strawberry, vanilla or chocolate, with the spoon in the lid). She is a brilliant performer, and you can clearly picture the customer she is talking to: bending down to chat with a child, shouting to be heard by an old woman, and flirting with attractive customers. At one point, she even wipes spit off her face after a difficult conversation. Between doing so, she treats us to a series of passionate rants about why she hates her job, which eventually spiral into a wider meaning.
Feisty and outspoken, our protagonist admits that she is not very good at keeping her mouth shut around customers. Tim’s reminder of “don’t be a fool, keep your cool” is more of an annoyance to her, and she reveals her little secrets to make her shifts pass quicker. As if directing customers to row “J for giraffe” isn’t bad enough, her personal favourite is sending unassuming customers through the fire exit door when they ask where the toilet is instead of screaming at them to use their eyes and follow the illuminated sign.
Her rants about staying calm in front of customers and simply smiling presumably has a double meaning to it based on how irate and upset she gets, but this is never fully explained. It may have something to do with her friend Becks, who she met in a bathroom one night. Neither story is ever fully explained, but this can be forgiven as it is not the main focus of the show.
It is cathartic to hear Ashwood say what we all long to say sometimes, and her rants flow together so the narrative never feels disrupted. Her entertaining stories and charismatic performance proves that you can create magic out of the mundane.
The Interval was performed at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall – Haldane Theatre until 17 August as part of Edinburgh Fringe 2024.
Words by Ellen Leslie
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.