Grit, Glitter, Gaslight
by Sarah McGuinness
Blacks, 57 Dean Street, London W1 to 6 December 2026.
⭐⭐ Review by William Russell
“A fine singer of songs.”
Monologues can be tricky and this one delivered, written and sung by Sarah McGuinness fresh from success on the Edinburgh Fringe is one such show. Rather than a story it is a confessional and at times proves ever so uncomfortable to listen to as some of what she says, while clearly important to her, is actually not all that interesting in itself. Although it remains an evening arguably worth collecting if you like sessions in the psychiatrist's chair with the added bonus that it gets you inside Blacks Club in Dean Street, a most intriguing venue gorgeously furnished as a town house might have been.
McGuinness is pleasing to look at, one is happy to learn she is still friends with Eddie Izzard, and her shows have collected praise along the way so if she isn't the biggest star ever, a would-be Judy perhaps, that is just show business for you. One is left feeling like one is watching someone in the psychiatrist's chair. The best bit is about being brought up in England, then taken by her parents to live in Derry where she was an outcast because, although her parents were Irish, because of her accent she was regarded by the natives as English, and then aged eighteen coming back here discover she was Irish which did not go down well with the natives. When she goes off and behind a screen gets into a red spangled gown with a marvellous stole of white feathers is, however, a moment to relish as one wonders how she got that lot on and what she had on before it off. Grit, she displays, glitter is there and as for gaslight – unfortunately it is there too. Regrets, she's had a few and boy does she mention them. Fewer words and more songs would make for a far better evening because she is undeniably a fine singer of songs.
Cast
Sarah McGuinness
Creatives
Sarah McGuinness
