Theatre review: The Struggling Life of an Artist, C venues - C aquilla

“Enjoy the show. It’s fantastic,” says the woman tearing tickets with the teeth-gritted determination of someone who strongly identifies with its subject matter: trying to make it as a young person in the arts.

The Struggling Life of an Artist, C venues - C aquilla (venue 21)

The Struggling Life of an Artist, C venues - C aquilla, * * *

Performed by writer Xiomara Meyer and director Tamalynne Grant, it uses an imaginative mix of theatrical styles to undermine the idea that, as a female artist, you need to “fit the mould and do what you’re told”.

Grant plays Jessica, an aspiring actress, who finds her measurements are more important than her monologues. Meanwhile, Olivia (Meyer) is a horror writer who is asked to take on a male pseudonym to get a publisher. Compromise or quit, they are told, in a piece ‘80% based on reality’. The drama works best when it avoids getting too angsty and the fun little songs would benefit from more projection and a richer musical accompaniment, but pacey scenes keep things moving.

While the career dilemmas of two relatively privileged millennials could be lazily dismissed as ‘first-world problems’, it’s hard to ignore the perhaps-not-entirely-acted tears of two young women trying find a way to do what they love, often while someone else gets paid for it.

SALLY STOTT

Until 26 August

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