Fleabag
Director: Tony Grech-Smith, Vicky Jones
Writer: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Cast: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Seen on: 12.7.2023

Content Note: animal cruelty/death, suicide, self-harm

Plot:
Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) runs a guinea-pig café, but she’s struggling. With the café that is about to close after the loss of her best friend with whom she ran the café, with her family, especially her sister, and with men.

I’m a little late to the Fleabag-party, I am aware. I haven’t seen the show, and it took me until now to make it to a streaming of the play. Nevertheless, I managed to stay spoiler-free (except for the sexual tension with Andrew Scott in the show), and boy, what a punch in the gut the play is – in the best way.

One person plays are impressive, at least when they work, and Waller-Bridge absolutely works the play and vice versa. She is electrifying on stage. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her and I didn’t wish once that there were other people with her to share the burden. Playwise, that is. I did very much wish that Fleabag had somebody because her loneliness was almost unbearable.

Fleabag is a comedy, yes, but it’s a comedy with a dark core, the type of “if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry” humor that will have you crying despite all attempts at making jokes, and will have you laughing despite the desperation that is present in every minute.

This mix gives us a kind of character that women rarely get to be in media: not particularly likeable, extremely screwed up and problematic, yet relatable as it is so easy to see the vulnerability that she tries to hide with all of that bluster, the determination with which she tries – and often fails – to grab something good in life. And then tries again.

Fleabag puts you through an emotional wringer. This isn’t always pleasant, but there is some catharsis and a lot of truth there, even as you hope that things could be better or different.

Summarizing: really fantastic.