Hotter than Potter: Waller-Bridge bids Fleabag
farewell as she takes it back to where it all began
you’ve marvelled at the oak it gave rise
to? The answer is a resounding yes.
Fleabag unplugged (directed as
before by Vicky Jones) still has a
live-wire energy, attaining freshness
despite its age through its bare-bones
storytelling. Waller-Bridge sits
nonchalantly in a high chair, clad in
simple reddish sweater and skinny
trousers, the eponymous character’s
life told in a mosaic of vignettes (as if
in flashback during a terrible job
interview) that are greater than thesum of their parts, pulling together a
profusion of thoughts about guilt,
emancipation and self-worth.
In terms of subject matter it’s as if
one of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads
monologues has been crossed with
Marie Claire – the chat ranges across
“slutty pizzas”, outrageous porn and
unprintable encounters. What’s
striking is how extreme some of the
material is compared to the television
version: there are jokey asides about
sexual molestation and domesticviolence against women. The job
interview set-up anticipates MeToo,
but the flippancy belongs to a less
censorious time.
Moving in a heartbeat from a
graceful smile to a look of crumpled
despair, and using her expressive
gangly frame with the punctiliousness
of a mime artist (a physical finesse we
hardly got to see on-screen), Waller-
Bridge gives us a panoply of characters- a drunk girl, mouth agape, a man
projectile-vomiting on to a stranger,
even a guinea-pig (a resident at the
themed café she used to run with her
deceased best friend Boo) strutting its
stuff to rock music. Waller-Bridge will
work on bigger beasts going forward
(the new Bond film included) but this
small but perfectly formed little critter
of a show – fluffy on the outside but
with sharp teeth – is a model of how to
achieve theatrical riches on a
shoestring.
Fleabag is in cinemas from Sept 12;
ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.ukNews
I
t qualifies as the theatrical event
of the autumn, perhaps even the
year. As a hot ticket, it’s on a par
with Harry Potter, as high on the
list as Hamilton.
Fleabag, the phenomenal creation of
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (and the making
of her career) first came into the world
as a play. Then it was transformed into
two award-winning BBC series that
left viewers here and overseas smitten
with (or should that be bitten by?) her
scabrously funny, achingly sad
anti-heroine.
Now in a final gilded goodbye –
following a wrenching season two
finale in April – Wyndham’s is hosting
a 30-performance reprise of the
original stage-work. It was the big gala
opening last night, duly crammed with
fans, friends and so on – including
Fiona Shaw and Andrew Scott from the
series, and Waller-Bridge’s playwright
partner Martin McDonagh.
The glittering West End is a far cry
from the musty Edinburgh fringe
venue where in 2013, the then
little-known actress first gave full
voice to a singular creature – “young,
sex-obsessed, angry, dry-witted” –
who in her vitality, intelligence and
psychological complexity spoke for a
generation of women. In going back to
square one to give Fleabag her final
curtain, Waller-Bridge – now 34 and
the new queen of British comedy
drama – is taking a big risk.
Those lucky enough to have got
hold of tickets are likely coming to this
back to front – knowing what will
happen to the character. The
70-minute spiel (entailing interactions
with sundry recorded voices) contains
much that fed into the first series. The
confessional style – that flirty
complicity between Fleabag and her
audience – plus many of the winning
lines, toe-curling flings and familial
flare-ups, with darker baggage besides- wound up in the TV product, helping
to make it a triumph.
It was the second season, though,
that gave Waller-Bridge her claim to
artistic greatness as well as fame. Is it
worth looking at the acorn when
ReviewFleabag
Wyndham’s Theatre★★★★★
By Dominic CavendishMATT HUMPHREY / THE CORNER SHOP / PA WIRE
Phoebe Waller-Bridge uses to the full her expressive gangly frame with the punctiliousness of a mime artistTown that sent
Costa packing
finally yields to
first chain café
By Jessica CarpaniA TOWN renowned for resisting the
UK’s biggest coffee chains has finally
succumbed to an offshoot of Caffè
Nero, leading to fears that its “integ-
rity” has been compromised.
The bohemian town of Totnes in
Devon has long prided itself on being
free of chain stores, instead lining its
streets with independent coffee houses
and even fighting off Costa Coffee.
But despite strong opposition it has
now been forced to accept a Coffee #- a subsidiary of Caffè Nero.
In 2012, Costa withdrew plans to
open a shop after thousands of resi-
dents pledged to boycott it.
As the last UK town centre to bat off
corporate giants, locals now fear the in-
troduction of Coffee #1 could open the
floodgates.
Julian Brazil, a councillor, said
Totnes had “spent many years” keep-
ing brands such as Caffè Nero at bay
and it would be a “sad day if the town is
overrun by chains”.
He added: “The best thing that could
happen is that it opens, no one uses it
and it then closes, so we don’t get ha-
rangued by the likes of Starbucks and
McDonald’s and the rest.
The new café opened on the site of a
former Barclays Bank after plans were
given the go-ahead by South Hams dis-
trict council earlier this year.
The application had received several
objections on the grounds that it could
kill off independent stores.
Cllr John Birch said the town already
had “52 premises that serve coffee”.
He added: “The majority are inde-
pendent shops that are run by individ-
uals or families who in a few cases put
their life savings into the business.
“Many of those independent traders
may be forced to close and we will be
left with more empty units in the town.
This will ... threaten the integrity and
character of the historic town centre.”
One resident, Ellie Brooker, said she
hoped people would “vote with their
feet” and support independent shops,
but Sue Wormald questioned why it
should be “different to any other town”,
adding: “As much as I love Totnes, they
need to get over themselves.”‘The best thing that could
happen is that no one uses it... so we don’t get harangued
by the likes of McDonald’s’The Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 August 2019 ** 11
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