Vault Festival, Leake St, London – until 3rd March 2019
Reviewed by Heather Chalkley
3***
A one woman show about the niggling self doubt that can follow you from puberty through the rest of your life. Portrayed through an energetic performance, running a marathon, that makes you want to egg Maddy (Grace Chapman) on as she breaks through 13 miles – further than she has ever run before! Tussling with millennials’ reputation for not being finishers, she collapses not far from the end. Having banished her inner voice, Maddy (Grace Chapman) let’s it back in again, so she can fight hard against it and finally cross the line. It’s like she depends on that voice as her sparing partner.
This story is told through that head voice most of us have that keeps us company. The writer, Chapman, uses it to show how hitting 30 can be like a midlife crisis for women, with all the time pressures of society to conform: settle down, have a career, have babies, buy a house, go on exotic holidays. Taking on a massive challenge like a marathon is a classic way of proving to the world, convincing yourself, you still have time and you’ve still got it. Mainly you are not a failure. The use of the balloon to be a second player at times is clever.
This piece warns you to beware! Running a marathon gives that head voice sooo much space and scope to bring self doubt to the fore front, especially when you have the additional pressure of a wedding proposal!
It is an unusual way of giving you a glimpse into the mind of a millennial woman. Grace Chapman gives an honest and insightful performance, with light and shade, and a lot of sweat!