Hope Theatre, London – until – 8 February 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
This delightful one-woman musical comedy tells the story of Rosie’s struggle to come to terms with her mental health. Rosie’s Brain has a monster inside, and she needs to stop feeding it.
Rosie’s fresh start in college comes to a grinding halt on the first day as she introduces herself to the audience with an optimistic song. But she notices a boy and wonders whether she should walk next to him and the song swiftly degenerates into a catastrophising story of her life trapped in a relationship with him.
This sets up the narrative beautifully, as we hear about Rosie’s compulsions and tics as a child – and her no-nonsense Brooklyn mother’s reactions to them. Rosie grew up comfortably in California, so her parents could afford to send her to therapists when they realised that she wasn’t just an eccentric kid and needed more help.
Written, composed and performed by Evelyn Rose, Rosie’s interactions with family, friends and therapists are shown brilliantly. Rose shifts position and body language effortlessly, making it instantly clear which character is talking. Rosie’s mum is an absolute hoot. As Rosie’s diagnosis changes from GAD to OCD, her anxieties and the shift in her compulsions are explained to her, and the audience, brilliantly. It never feels as if we are laughing at her, but with her. The songs are funny and revealing, especially as Rosie tries her exposure work, trying to approach rather than avoid the men on campus.
Rosie’s romance and breakup with another student with OCD, and her realisation that she is strong enough to act even though the monster is trying to stop and protect her from an uncertain future, bring the show to a happy and hopeful conclusion, and I wanted to know more about Rosie. Musical director Laoise Fleming’s interactions with Rose are sweet, while Josh Vaatstra and Lucrezia Galeone’s direction is empathetic and thoughtful, allowing the wonderfully talented Evelyn Rose to shine and capture the audience’s hearts. In this hour-long show, there is plenty of material for a more expansive production with added musical numbers, and I am excited to see how this charming and emotional show develops.