This show is billed as a delicious collection of naughty rhymes and audiences will not be disappointed. Actress Penny Ashton begins by asking for applause when she strikes a pose but after two poems you’ll be doing it anyway.
Announcing she always wanted to be a ballet dancer, I confess, also my own childhood dream, she had me hooked. The kiwi poet appears in a fabulous fuchsia dress adorned with flowers and takes the audience on a journey through life as a single woman using hilarious verse interspersed with not infrequent ‘rude’ words. The audience are treated to poems and songs on the themes of junk food, chat up lines, teddy bears and, of course, dating the wrong men, all of which culminates in the ‘Hot Pink Rap’.
Ashton is not afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve and put her mortgage on the line for Edinburgh audiences. Although the subject material is not particularly original, and some of the verse is weak, the show is pacy, fun and entertaining and it’s worth the walk up the dodgy steps in the dark Edinburgh caves – just leave your stilettos at home!
So instead of heading down to George Street next weekend grab some single female friends, down a couple of glasses of chardonnay and have a scream. Single guys, try this out – you might just learn something! Comic verse for the Bridget Jones generation.
4/5
Cath Wood
