This isn’t a stand-up show, it’s a story. A story that’s funny, sad, poignant and relatable. There are characters and time jumps and sex in it. Told in the first person, Jessie plays every character in Sunrise, in a manner of a friend telling you What Happened, only more entertaining and with props.
If you aren’t familiar with Jessie’s story she is the single mother to two young children, the babies as she says, whose father is comic Alfie Brown. Their first child was the result of a one-night stand, if you have seen Sharon Horgan’s Catastrophe Jessie and Alfie are living it, only they don’t get married (spoiler) they break up. Sunrise is about Jessie coping and adjusting to life as a single mother.
Using embroidered cushions to signify Alfie and a new lover, Jessie shares dialogue with the men in her life and gives us a startling insight into her jealousies, her worries, her loves. Any free time must be spent productively, no activity can be done by half. Jessie throws herself into everything she does, be it a trip to the museum with her babies or a trip to a Harry Potter convention in Paris.
Jessie has a wonderful turn of phrase and there are plenty of funny moments in this fascinating show, however there are also several moments where your heart aches for her, throughout the audience is on her side and I thin we all hope to see the next instalment, with cushions, soon.
★★★★
Jessie Cave: Sunrise is at 14:25 at The Stand, until 26th August. For tickets and more information click here!
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