REVIEW: 3/5
SOPHIE Bentinck masters the art of time travelling through diaries in her new Edinburgh Fringe show Pauline.
As the room turns dim, she comes onto the stage with no shoes on – something that makes her seem warmer and easier to empathise with.
The whole opening sequence makes for what will be a comfortable and personal set.
She showcases her innate narrative talent, switching between personas with ease.
At times throughout the show, I found it difficult to know when she spoke as her mum or as herself.
This confusion somehow adds to the weaving of Bentwick’s stories.
It is unmistakable when she turns into the star, Pauline, though.
Through her active voice-over, she manages to bring us physically and emotionally into Sophie’s grandma’s story.
We get to know the promiscuous young lady, who later became a solitary cuckquean that drowned her sorrows in alcohol.
It’s an ever-so-common plotline, but she brings it alive with stares into the audience and revealing facial expressions, which makes it uniquely engaging in its own right.
Bentinck undresses Pauline’s past until she leaves her naked to the audience.
And we cannot help but feel sorry for her.
This is a raw exposure she later extends to the rest of the Bentinck family, including herself.
Digging into her mum’s Alzheimers, we hear conversations they had before her diagnosis, makes her unavoidably vulnerable and human.
She masters the art of being emotionally comical.
My favourite part – her interpretation of her younger self through her diaries is exquisitely comical.
Her carelessness and teenage infatuation made me giggle – we have all been Sophie Bentwick’s diary version at some point.
Pauline is a multifaceted one-woman show that, although confusing at times, is surprisingly captivating.
If there is one thing I definitely will do after this show, it’s call my gran!
With few props and a gift for the spotlight, Bentinck’s show is full of surprises. It is indeed, a must-see Fringe show.
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