Playhouse, Sheffield – November 19th 2025
Reviewed by Sharon Farley
4****
Fixing is a warm, entertaining, and interactive production, where the audience is invited to join Matt Miller (Fitting, Sticking) and their alter-ego, Natalie Spanner, on a course of holistic car care. The combination lands somewhere in between an episode of ‘Playaway’ and a Haynes manual.
With Fixing, Matt and co-creator Peader Kirk (The Performative Museum, Mkultra) have conjured a clever parallel between the maintenance of both cars and relationships. Natalie’s relentless sparkle makes things fun – combining audience participation with a sprinkling of cheeky innuendo – while Matt’s raw vulnerability draws you in to sit alongside them and reflect on your own.
Matt’s poetic talent shines via the beautifully descriptive dialogue they employ to delve into the deeply personal but profoundly relatable history of their family relationships, particularly that with their father, and the experience of their parents’ break up. Family relationships are rarely an easy topic, despite the fact that most of us share this experience and yet still find it endlessly challenging; one wonders why we are often so much more able and willing to be generous with our time, connection, and assistance to a stranger stuck on the side of a road than with those who mean the most to us.
The set has been thoughtfully designed to give car parts a chic edge via a carefully coordinated colour palette, and the lighting is well engaged to create a piercing focus during the more serious moments. Matt’s timing is impeccable and they make some very interesting observations. Natalie assists by opening the door into each new facet of Matt’s story whilst also teaching us what a flywheel does and how to navigate collisions head on. They are also astoundingly skilful in maintaining their balance on a pair of enormous, yellow platform heels.
Unfortunately, you won’t find all the solutions to relationship struggles here but you might learn something about car maintenance and will most certainly become part of the engine that drives this enjoyable performance along its path. At the end, you may emerge asking yourself questions about your own family dynamics and whether or not your car maintenance is up to scratch.