Theatre / Reviews
Review: Playing God, Loco Klub – ‘Anecdotes and hard-hitting reflections that touched many’
Playing God is a shimmeringly poetic one-woman performance that tackles difficult conversations.
Written and performed by Meg Pickup, the centre point of this narrative primarily focuses on regret, reckless living, mental health and repentance of the past, which immediately became a distinguishable byword for its relativity in contemporary issues and the detriment of a promiscuous lifestyle.
Meg Pickup, 32, looks younger than she is but her Patsy Stone-esque character illuminated the impression of maturity and sass. She stood in confidence under the yellow spotlight, nursing her glass of cheap wine in a crystal white transparent gown and feather tassels with black undergarments.
is needed now More than ever
She is then forced to examine her promiscuous lifestyle through a different lens upon hearing the news of her mother’s death. Full of regret, she runs down through the things she wished she did or didn’t do with her mother, examining the turbulent relationship that they both had.
She was able to capture the very essence of someone struggling to keep their shields raised from harsh realities. Through her anecdotes and hard-hitting reflections, she touched many from the audience.
The stylistic choices consisted of characterisations of a mental state. The brick walls behind her certainly signified the repetitive strain of her excess drinking habits and uncommitted sex mounting on top of each other. The unattended bed that was beside the centre, which was a remarkable close-up of Tracey Emin’s My Bed installation, deliberately personified the disorganisation and the promiscuity of her lifestyle.
I began to sense a warmth between her and the audience, a warmth that can only be shared between a close friendship. This was the specific moment when this monologue became believable. Women in the audience particularly laughed the loudest at every intimate sexual reference or the female anatomy, while men delivered a gentle chuckle.
The place that she is in is one that many of us have experienced once or twice in our life. The struggles of losing someone as close as your mother is something that many are in constant fear of.
Towards the end of the production, the tension of the situation diminished as she concludes her final disarray of regret. The plausibility of myself mirroring her emotions was very likely, I had my fingers itching to my phone to call my own mother.
Playing God is a shimmeringly poetic one-woman performance that tackles difficult conversations
All photos: Serafina Kiszko
Read more: Bristol standup Jayde Adams taking to Strictly dance floor
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
