one4review | On 09, Aug 2026

There are a lot of pop culture references in this show, some of them obscure and niche, and I feel I would benefit from looking them all up and then seeing the show again so I could fully appreciate the comic brilliance on display. Bebe Cave tells a story of the women associated with the pre-Raphaelite painters, and it is far funnier than that dry parsing makes it sound.

The show is extremely well put-together, with all of the requisite technical and craft elements fine-tuned and behaving well, but it’s the humanity that Ms Cave brings that elevates everything. Historical figures are dusted down and given form – interpretive, indeed – but much more like real people than art history texts could make them. And there’s the humanity of Ms Cave herself: hiding her face so her laugh doesn’t break character, minor horror at loosing the location of a hat, tripping over the scenery. It tarnishes some of the excellence and makes it less formidable, brings the audience in and makes a place in the art world for mere mortals too.

It’s also obvious that Bebe is having a blast delivering this show; the growing audience enthusiasm and engagement builds into a feedback loop sustaining and inciting both. It’s justifiable fun: the hard graft in planning and creating has paid off, and she can rightly have fun delivering a brilliant show.

4.5 ☆☆☆☆
Reveiwed by Laura
Pleasance Dome
Until