Heather Bagnall puts on a lovely monologue about the life of a woman, Laurel, who is going through a divorce and enjoying her new single status and independence. If you think you’re going to see a play about how she goes off the rails and hits on every boy in town, think again. Instead, she explains how she got to this point in her life and how she’s dealing with it. It is an entertaining and amusing coming-of-age in your thirties kind of tale. Far from a sob story or overly dramatic - it is also not belly-achingly funny.
The set consists of a wooden playground frame with a swing in it that Laurel uses to play with as she tells you her life story. The frame works well to give her space to play with levels but is otherwise unnecessary. Laurel tells us about the two loves of her life as well as her complicated relationship with her mother and her discovery of her inner goddess. She takes the audience on a journey where they can hear about Laurel’s views on relationships, inner self-discovery, dealing with a loved one passing away and finding pleasure in the small things in life. On the contrary, you don’t hear any details about the two men she fell in love with, they’re only mentioned in passing. One she got married to and is divorcing at the moment, the other one she continued loving but the audience has no idea what happened to him.
Bagnall talks quite fast and could embrace the silence at some points, or possibly engage more with the audience and let them into Laurel’s world. Currently, she is showing the audience Laurel’s world - but talks at them rather than to them. She advocates taking control of your own lives, going out into the world and exploring, even taking yourself out on a date - as well as some other good advice. If you recently found yourself to be single and need tips on how to deal with it, or just want to know the story of a woman who finds herself in this situation, then this is the show for you.
