Jenny Eclair
The Andy Warhol Syndrome
Riverside studios, London W6
In the hands of a less accomplished performer than Jenny Eclair, the cautionary tale of the rise and fall of a manufactured instant celebrity could easily have been banal beyond endurance; hasn't the phenomenon been analysed from every angle, after all?
But Eclair's one-woman play, written with her long-time collaborator Julie Balloo, brings a freshness and verve to the theme that has much to do with the concise style and Eclair's flair for character. Despite her reputation as a pioneering mouthy stand-up, her novels have demonstrated a sharp eye for the foibles of ordinary lives that bears comparison to Victoria Wood, and Wood's influence, as well as Alan Bennett's, hovers over this play.
Carol Fletcher is a fat, outspoken trader in a Dewsbury market who becomes the star of a docusoap. Soon, she's slimmed down, sharing a sofa with Lorraine Kelly and feeling dissatisfied with her real life. Predictably, the tabloids turn on her and it takes the loss of everyone she loves for her to realise that fame is ephemeral.
Despite the straining towards melodrama at the end, it is the understated poignancy of Carol's dashed hopes that remains after the laughs have evaporated.
