Theatre review: Honey, ZOO Playground, Edinburgh
Honey, ZOO Playground, Edinburgh * * *
But don't worry, this isn't theatre as therapy, but a warmly told one-woman piece of storytelling, written by Tove Appelgren and performed by Sarah McCardie, which might not push any boundaries, but is a small-scale celebration of family and the ties the bind but also infuriate us.
Likeable Scotswoman Honey is a young mum of four (and a half), who has a fractious relationship with her teenage daughter, a chain of exs, an irritating but loving mother and an array of supportive friends, who McCardie conjures up along with the events that have made Honey who she is today – a woman with a seemingly unbreakable sunny demeanour, but who's also faced challenges.
Over the course of an hour, the complex web of relationships that makes up a modern-day family emerges through the many roles that Honey plays. 'Lessons I've learned about relationships," she writes on a blackboard at the end, before wiping it clean. This isn’t a piece about learning things, it's about valuing what you've got and moving on from what you haven't, which Honey does with a cheery smile, cheeky song and the occasional celebratory dance.
Until 25 August