Review: Weather Girl, Soho Theatre - a whirlwind of a play
13/03/2025
The character in Brian Watkins' monologue play Weather Girl is called Stacey (Julia McDermott) which was slightly disconcerting because that's my real name (Stan is a nickname), and it's not the sort of name usually used for stage characters.
But, the fact that it is disconcerting is appropriate, Weather Girl is a disconcerting dichotomy of a play.
Stacey is a California weather girl who has to get up at 4am and be cheery while wild fires are wrecking homes and lives around her.
In the studio, she is all smiles, quips and glamour, but outside, she is keeping an eye on her homeless, drug-addict mom, who has forgotten who she is. Stacey always sips from a large, fancy water bottle, except it actually contains prosecco.
When she is offered a 'promotion' in desert-city Phoenix, it tips her over the edge, and her life spirals into a car crash - figuratively and literally.
It mirrors what is happening around her with the fires and California drought. She runs towards danger and self-sabotage. Literal fires burn around her while people ignore or deny what is going on and just continue with their lives as usual.
From the producers of Fleabag, Weather Girl carries with it the same dark humour layered over something more revealing and raw.
It is a whirlwind of a play where you start to question what is real and what is going on in Stacey's reckless, drink-fuelled brain. And just like a car crash, you can't look away.
Julia McDermott is riveting as Stacey, charisma and catastrophy wrapped into one.
Humourous rather than hilarious but disconcertingly powerful, I'm giving Weather Girl ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Weather Girl, Soho Theatre
Written by Brian Watkins
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
Cast: Julia McDermott
Running time: 60 minutes, no interval.
Booking until 5 April; for more details and to buy tickets, visit the Soho Theatre website.
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