one4review | On 12, Aug 2016

This is a work in progress, so I’m not sure how fair it is to review it, or how to do so (since I’m going to). Gently, I suppose.

Ms Ferns is a storyteller, and this show is a story about her experience of domestic violence. It’s horrifying and sickening, and upsetting to hear how cruel one human can be to another, but it never gets bleak. And it’s difficult not to admire the courage to tell such a story, especially in such a tiny room, where the audience are almost sat on your feet – you can’t distance yourself. The reactions and the emotions are right there.

It is a work in progress, and so once it’s not, the performance – the timing, the strength of the comic elements, the delivery – will hopefully be much slicker. As it is, this is a captivating show with a powerful message.

Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, 18:00

Reviewed by Laura