Flat 4 – The Outhouse Bar, Broughton Street Lane

The loft space in the Outhouse Bar is a true Fringe venue space. Like Isabel Songer herself, it comes as is. There is no major lighting rig installed and there is no particular definition of the acting space. This is a welcome change to the black box pop-up theatre that defines most show experiences. Chairs encircle the acting area, and the audience gather as if the show were some kind of group therapy session in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Taking the stage in blue silk pyjamas, these ingredients set the stage for Songer to present her unpretentious monologue of university life with passion and gusto. 

The action is set in a two-bedroom flat. Alex and her best friend Bex are together for the long haul. If that means binge watching television for days and eating greasy takeaways, life is perfect. Except, it really isn’t. Songer digs deep into what it is to be a woman struggling to conform to life and social expectations in your twenties.

The heavily descriptive dialogue switches between spoken word and sections of poetry fluently. Some sections do flow better than others, some could do with shortening for efficacy, but this is nit-picking, Songer is an incredibly valuable performer because she presents her work with total and direct honesty. She is wholly relatable and utilises a broad range of vocal delivery. In scenes with subtle use of music her ability to explode and intensify sets the audience back in their seats to revel in the passionate ferocity delivered.

The story has big moments. The trials and tribulations of life focused material aren’t always original, but the slant and perspective always is. After a drunken night, Alex abandons her friend for an abusive relationship that her psyche’s crave for acknowledgement and acceptance becomes addicted to. She knows the union is flawed. The snipes and stabs from the partner are fired from Alex’s memory. They wound her but she can’t yet give it up because being wanted fulfils a part of her she hasn’t quite come to terms with. This is the piece in raw, unfiltered form and the structure allows so many personal topics to be shared. Eating disorders and weight are dealt with in brutally blunt fashion. The catharsis is persistent. Friendship is examined in a stance of utter remorse at what could have been. The approach is essential to the play’s demeanour; it refuses to hold back and explores the complexity of the lives it invests in with conviction. The play ends a little abruptly, but the journey is completed, and the audience are compelled throughout.

What takes the show to the next level is learning the effort behind the realization of this production as an EdFringe show. It sits in PBH’s Free Fringe for a reason; Songer could barely afford the programme show fee, let alone venue hire or central accommodation. There is no external support present whatsoever on this venture; it’s just her – and she commuted from Glasgow to solve the accommodation issue. As writer, director and producer this intense piece of theatre was conceived and rehearsed to a bedroom wall in Brighton. That doesn’t just make this show special, it makes it a brilliant tour de force. The triumph over adversity is absolute and the artistic skillset on display as writer and actor inspiring. When you learn this, the tiny directorial oversights become trivial and the slightly overlong runtime irrelevant. This show has come to being without the benefit of external oversight and run for a month. This is how playwrights and performers with a true voice are born and material such as this, presented with authority, commands respect.  

Reviewer: Al Carretta

Reviewed: 23rd August 2025

North West End UK Rating: