Almost Famous – The King’s Arms
“Escaping and pretending is better than the truth,” says Emily Benton (Jac Wheble), the hero of this one-woman show about identity, fame, and the desire to be seen, not for what you are, that’s boring. She has a thirst, a craving almost to be seen in the spotlight, out front, and famous.
Benton, we find out, is living a lie from the start. Suddenly, we are taken into an examination of identity in a world where everyone is pretending. She came from Australia to the UK in the early 1970s to pursue her dream of finding fame and fortune as a performer.
“Naivety gets you through,” she says as she looks back at her younger self and the pitfalls she faced in a business where more established, powerful men will take advantage of her with the promise of a record contract or a juicy part o...