one4review | On 23, Aug 2025

I confess I had never heard of Joe before seeing his show (sorry, Joe!) either from Hollyoaks (never seen it) or the social medias, and in the flurry of blurbs, this one was only half remembered. None of this matters; the show doesn’t rest on past laurels. Joe puts us through the wringer – several times – but somehow manages to send us all away feeling like it can – and is going to – be okay. Even with about forty percent of the audience in proper tears.

Joe’s an actor, so he does have experience performing, and he is very good at it. He talks well and has the pace and the rhythm and all the other things a good performer does. These things are almost incidental. He also sheds tears on stage and tells us things that he’s ashamed of and manages to make this vulnerability not mawkish but a strength. He knows where his limits are and where he might need help, and he’s got that on hand to ask for when he needs it. He’s brutally honest, but he’s funny with it, and he knows how to make an impact without wallowing.

The show itself is well-crafted, follow-ably structured. There are nine characteristics of borderline personality disorder, and Joe tells his story with reference to these. It takes the dry medical bullet points and makes them human, showing us how they are on a person. His conclusion is heartrending, but also resolutely hopeful, in the way of someone who’s worked hard to achieve that hope, and Joe gives some of that to the audience too. It’s a lovely gift.

The audience was peppered with Joe’s fans, people who knew some of his story. He made another one tonight too.

Reviewed by Laura
20:25 (1hr)
Underbelly Bristo Square (Ermintrude)
Until 24th