Jimmy watches Countdown and tries to ignore his bills, grief, COPD and frailty. Meanwhile, his carer walks a tightrope between kindness and reality
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Room for development
MARY CONWAY sees a play on a young girl abandoned by her mother that could do with some dramatic depth
Animated: Patsy Ferran
[Helen Murray]
JOHN FLINT explores the Appleby Blue development, winner of the Stirling prize 2025
GORDON PARSONS enjoys the wealth of wisdom and the clarity of expression from a dialogue between Chomsky and Mujica
GUILLERMO THOMAS enjoys a survey of the current state of the CIA (aka Langley) from an expert and insider of sorts
MARIA DUARTE, FIONA O CONNOR and JOHN GREEN review The Choral, Belen, Dragonfly, and Colossal Wreck
WILL STONE is frustrated by a performance that chooses to garble the lyrics and drown the songs in reverb
RITA DI SANTO points out the social experience of exploitation and oppression that inform the popular winners at this year’s festival
My Mum’s a Twat
Royal Court Theatre, London
AT EIGHTY minutes, My Mum’s a Twat is overlong, but not because time spent in the company of that winning and animated actor Patsy Ferran isn’t a delight.
The problem is that its one main thought, "My mum’s a twat for joining a daft, highly controlling spiritual cult and abandoning me," is easily demonstrated in the first few minutes and doesn’t develop.
As a monologue it feels more suited to a brief stand-up comedy routine than to a drama.
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