Singer’s little sister Coldplays a blinder

IT must be something of a double-edged sword for Nicola Wren (really Martin – Wren being a stage name plucked from a pizza), to know that publicity for her autobiographical play was always going to focus on its central theme – being the kid sister of a major celebrity.

The star sibling in question being Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Audiences hoping for showbiz tittle-tattle will be left wanting. There isn’t any. Well, other than the admission that ‘X&Y is a bit of a stinker’. But audiences won’t leave disappointed. Wren’s wry, funny, self-mocking, rites-ofpassage confessional is well constructed and delivered with charm. Her show really is a treat. If she intended to write a play about forging her own identity from under the celebrity shadow she’s spent years trying to cover up, she’s certainly managed it. Her brother may have a string of hits under his belt but Wren, left, now has one of her own. The show plays out on a bare stage, bar a clothes rail cum dressing-up box. This she uses to illustrate her life (youngest of five siblings, Evangelical Christian school, romantic encounters). There’s also a brief resume of her acting career – namely, Bunny No 3 in the local village hall, a bit part as a one-eyed prostitute and as Mole in Wind In The Willows.

Chris made it home to see that last one and said she did great. As did the woman with him – Gwyneth Paltrow.

Wren’s trials are decidedly middle-class, but what could have come across as selfindulgent is instead mined to great comic effect in vignettes: Coldplay being played at the school disco, for example.

The show isn’t really about being Chris Martin’s sister. It’s about her determination not to trade on his name. l Underbelly Cowgate, until Sunday, then Tuesday to Aug 25