Sophie Walsh Harrington is talented, beautiful and a little bit unhinged – but in a good way. She’s returned to the Fringe with her 2011 show about trying to find love which saw her win Best Cabaret at the Adelaide Fringe and gain fantastic reviews here in Edinburgh. It’s always hard to review a show that you’ve seen before; you have to ask yourself ‘is this show strong enough to be entertaining a second time around?’ The answer is ‘absolutely!’
Ms Walsh-Harrington throws herself at the audience with boundless energy and enthusiasm. She portrays a damsel scorned by love, desperate to find a man who’ll need her as much as she needs him. The comedy is sharp and well written, the songs are both hilarious and haunting and her timing is perfect. Her mantra of ‘one must create melodrama in one’s life’ is a sentiment that the audience clearly relates to and she constantly garners whoops and cheers of agreement from the ladies (and some of the men) who clearly see the Damsel as an embarrassingly familiar character.
Others have commented that perhaps she should leave this show behind and bring new work but, when the performance is this good, what’s wrong with giving the fans a chance to see it again and the opportunity to share an excellent show with a whole new audience. No-one ever complains when the Rolling Stones tour with their greatest hits and The Damsel in Shining Armour is a show I’d gladly sit through again.
