57. The Fat Girl Gets A Haircut & Other Stories - Roundhouse

It’s really difficult to know what to say about this one, which is the feeling I seem to be taking away from a whole heap of plays at the moment, though here at least I think the feeling is justified. The Fat Girl Gets A Hair Cut & Other Stories is a piece difficult to classify – it crosses the borders of theatre, performance art, modern dance, illusion and poetry.


This variety of elements did make it a bit of a mixed bag to watch with some bits working better than others. I felt like I didn’t know what was going on a lot of the time and it was often teetering on the edge of being a bit pretentious and a bit worthy at the same time. That said it was an impressive production and certainly not deserving of the vitriol I’ve seen directed at it from some quarters (including the truly awful behaviour of some of the audience sat around me – whether you like what you’re watching or not, you should at least respect those involved enough to sit quietly).

The music was great throughout, beautiful and atmospheric and I liked that we could see the musicians creating it so vividly, they were a very intrinsic part of the piece. I also liked the transformation of the Roundhouse; it was a space exciting to come into from the start, especially with the performers standing on the seats behind you as you took your places. Most of all what won me over was possibly the best, most integrated, use of projections I’ve so far seen – utterly beautiful in paces and adding hugely to the impact of stories. This visual approach was maintained throughout all the elements of the play, providing some highly striking images, particularly the use of tomato ketchup to invoke bullying and the uneaten apple as a symbol of innocence.

I did wish though that this high standard of visual performance had been married more often with words, as for me the best sections were the ones where they allowed the young performers to speak to us more directly. My particular favourites being Infidel, Daddy’s Girl and the exceptionally moving How To Make A Paper Daffodil (this also involved some of the most effective use of projections).

Even if I’m still not sure whether this entirely worked, the beauty of the penultimate Daffodils combine with a final sequence of youthful joy as the cast and musicians chased a bicycle around the stage to the song “Daisy Bell” was such a lovely emotional experience, that it made this a more than worthwhile night in the theatre for me.