Whole lotta Rosie to come
0 Rosie Jones emerges triumphant
might have been but for the accident. Able-bodied’s reward is to be roundly dismissed and bullied by Jones, who reiterates that she, the genuine Rosie, will always be the biggest
“prick” in any situation. Bemoaning her parents’ loving support, robbing her of material, Jones’ beaming, brattish character is joyously arrogant, the glint in her eye and the delight with which she leads you up garden paths charmingly infectious. The finest example of this is her elaborate Ryan Gosling fantasy, which beautifully suckers you in before a kicker in which she attempts to manipulate her grandparents into giving her more material. Seemingly incidental details, tossed out as throwaway jokes, are backreferenced with clinically planned skill.
Disclaiming her delivery at the top as a potential obstacle to understanding, the opposite is, in fact, true, as Jones has harnessed her speech patterns for some winningly dark ambush gags, her circumstances, and playful grin permitting her some nasty stuff about Stephen Hawking.
Already working behind the scenes in television, expect to see more of the smart, vivacious Jones in front of the cameras very soon.
JAY RICHARDSON
Until 26 August. Today 8:30pm. Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) JJJ
The warm and welcoming woman smiling at us is on a quest to find… well, she’s not exactly sure. Happiness? Identity? Belonging? Purpose? She writes these words on signs, crosses them out and then attempts to think of something better – like “tap dancing”.
Victoria Firth’s one-woman performance has all the unaffected charm of someone putting on their first full-length show – as well as upbeat comic routines, as she tries everything from running, to cabaret, to cooking to fill a gap that, we learn, comes from discovering she’s not able to have children.
“What would Miranda do?” she asks at one points, and while the episodic little sequences at times feel like they could come together more to create a sharper sense of direction, Victoria has the down-to-earth charm that will appeal to fans of popular TV show.
More heartfelt moments, in which she stands quiet on stage, as a recording speaks of the real emotions not quite hidden behind her smiling face, build to a touching conclusion, one that wrestles with big questions of finding meaning and purpose. What should she do? “I don’t know,” she writes on a final sign – but maybe that’s OK.
SALLY STOTT
Until 27 August. Today 11:35am.