Franglais27 Tales

Commandeering the stage, Louise Marwood (of Emmerdale fame) entices within a confessional one woman play that will keep audiences on tenterhooks. Appearing during the Edinburgh Fringe, on a not yet sold out night (trust us, this show is likely to become popular) Marwood impressively holds the audience’s attention, within this Edinburgh Fringe debut, as she portrays a dancer turned life coach. Marwood has tremendous stage presence as she seamlessly flits from character to character, assuming all other roles, with the mere turn of her head. The result will leave audiences racing to catch up with this play, which possesses an intensity that matches the tales of high octane drug fuelled activities.

Charting the life of Imogen, suffering from substance abuse and co-dependent domestic trauma with an addict, the play follows her chance transformation to create another persona being Rita Lynn, who is the blunt, life coach extraordinaire! Inspired by Marwood’s own experience with addiction, following her long-term stint in Emmerdale, this is a personal, cathartic journey. However, audiences may feel disconnected by the creative decision within the storytelling to maintain a modicum of distance, without context, which seemingly creates an unintended sense of detachment – perhaps as there is a third party director., who is not Marwood. The distancing is an unfortunate choice given Marwood’s incredible performance.

Herein lies the irony – Imogen has fallen into the world of coaching by assisting an affluent depressed housewife in need, whilst Imogen, herself, is in a drug induced state of oblivion. Adopting her alter-ego Rita Lynn, she coaches others by telephone, in between her own substance abuse antics. Therefore, what ensues is mildly humorous as, given Imogen’s predicament, she poses the question of what it entails to be a life coach. The insinuation is that many people are jumping on the life coach bandwagon without necessarily being qualified to deliver good advice. All of which is delivered in a powerful monologue as Marwood often amusingly breaks the fourth wall to keep the date as the audience.
Marwood is undeniably impressive and delivers her lines convincingly, which is no mean feat given the exposition heavy show with a plethora of characters. Still, by using a minimalistic set design, there is solely a chair and a partial telephone cord, Marwood’s semi autobiographical piece is entirely riveting.

We wish to know more about Imogen as Marwood’s revelations become more outlandish and insights are given to the activities occurring behind closed doors.
The stage’s layout is sometimes challenging for audiences as sometimes, the spotlight shining behind Marwood is jarring particularly for those on the front row. But, this is forgiven when the red and purple lights are on stage in re-enactments of a burlesque dancer’s stage and Marwood is truly in her element with her sensual dance routine, further drawing audiences within her exciting descriptions of a wild life, which may also elicit sympathy.

Marwood gives her all within Rita Lynn: Life Coach, which can never be easy during scenes depicting her own battle with addiction. Yet, the play is richer for this candid approach that seems as dramatic as watching an episode of the US TV show, Melrose Place. The dialogue may be shocking in moments but almost does not go far enough in exploring the many complex issues that it raises given the short length of the play and therefore titillates rather than educate. Still, Marwood carries the play as far as she can with her delivery. This is also to Marwood’s credit, who is a one woman powerhouse with captivating stage presence and the courage to re-live her personal demons on stage and becomes our best friend in the process!

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2 (3.5 stars)

Rita Lynn: Life Coach is on at the Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh on 31 July – 25 August 2024 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival