Three women, three generations, one family – and all of them struggle with their belly. The play follows Ellie, who gets pressured into an eating disorder by her high school swim coach, her aunt Katherine, who wants to do everything right for her baby but has to navigate a fatphobic healthcare system and patronizing doctors and Katherine’s mother Susan, newly widowed and learning to live with her grief.
From time to time, writer and performer Reilly O’Shaughnessy checks back in with the audience as herself, and we get to learn about her own story and the reasons behind her creating this show. This variety of characters and storylines keeps the audience engaged and waiting to learn more about their relationships. They get rewarded with a very sweet ending, tying the different storylines up into a neat little bow. O’Shaughnessy performs all three characters with empathy and high emotional intensity. The production team clearly knew this, as well as their audience, and gave out little packets of tissues before the show, which certainly came in handy for some audience members.
Whilst the premise of the play is very interesting and the script is good; the execution could be improved upon. Does it need a seemingly random song interlude for example? Could there be more showing and less telling of what happens to these women? But most importantly, as it is a one-woman show, there needs to be more distinction between the characters in O’Shaughnessy’s body and voice. The main tells of which character we were watching were external. Costume, sounds, lights and position on stage. Given the character’s wildly different ages and physical capabilities, creating more distinct physicality’s is crucial.
Despite this, Belly is certainly a play worth watching this Fringe. It was evident how important this show is to O’Shaughnessy personally and this does translate to the audience. Touching on many important subjects – from eating disorders to pregnancy and grief – for anyone who has experienced this kind of struggle with their body (especially as a woman) watching Belly could be a very healing experience.
Belly runs until the 29th of August at Greenside @ George Street with tickets available at https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/belly
Reviewer: Christina Schmidt
Reviewed: 8th August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating:
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