Theatre Review by our Theatre Reviewer Jonah Zalick #OnePlymouth
It’s easy to lock out what we don’t want to feel – or what’s difficult to feel. What starts as a magpie-shaped metaphor very soon becomes apparent as a deeper issue. Stop Trying To Be Fantastic is a candid exploration into Molly Naylor’s past, injected with witty yet honest insight into saviour complexes and anxieties.
The show is an hour-long monologue and yet is not overbearing or tiresome. Naylor leads the show by herself and guides us through moments where her own magpie is trying to make itself known. Though she is performing her story, the show never appears to be an ‘act’; her delivery is consistently sincere.
Stop Trying To Be Fantastic is particularly moving in its expression of feelings, or habits, that some might consider shameful of themselves for doing, or taking part in. It’s no secret that when one person embraces themselves – warts and all, as they say – others will take note. Narratives of success are all well and good for heart-warming moments, but what can be found in Fantastic is the power to encourage us to recognise what we have neglected in order to flourish.
I left Naylor’s show feeling, honestly, emotionally raw. In an hour, I had been confronted with my own efforts to chase away my own magpie. But by pushing against the grain and sharing what we’re often urged to keep quiet – in Naylor’s example, things like alcohol abuse, or emotional neglect – Fantastic shows we quell the fear of confronting our own Big, Emotional Bads. Stop Trying To Be Fantastic is not only a great narrative journey but a triumphant exploration of how long a person can run from what refuses to go away.
Theatre Review by our Theatre Reviewer Jonah Zalick #OnePlymouth
