Review: Mrs Dalloway at Storyhouse

Multi-talented performer Kit Green certainly knows how to throw a party.

The co-writer and sole performer in this cabaret-style show excels in adeptly portraying not one but a staggering 16 roles.

The production features scenes from the classic novel, written more than 100 years ago, alongside live music and film and technical wizardry.

Throw in some disco dancing, stand up comedy and Green breaking the fourth wall to talk to us, the audience, from time to time and you can see just how action-packed this production, co-written and directed by Jen Heyes, really is.

There are some lighter moments, including Green roasting Chester with jokes including how we are so “retro” and still on 4G mobile phone reception, which the audience takes in good spirit.

Darker themes of mental health and suicide also feature heavily, which will stay with us long after the curtain falls on this production’s opening run at Storyhouse in Chester.

Virginia Wolf’s 1925 novel focuses on a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares to host a grand party at her home in London, as well as the life of Septimus Smith, who struggles with the lasting impact of having served in World War One.

We are “plunged into the heart of the moment” together, but only so long as we consent to do so, Green says.

She also offers some interesting reflections on the subject of what relevance the novel could possibly have to today’s audiences. It was written six years after a global pandemic, during a cost of living crisis and in a period between two world wars, she says, poignantly asking us if any of this sounds familiar to us.

From the moment Green sets foot inside the main auditorium as Clarissa, we are bedazzled with her charm as she mingles with the audience and shows off her incredible line in uber-glam day wear.

Her glorious silk dress is, however, only daywear and something she wears simply for popping to the shops on a June day in London, she informs us. Later on, we get to see Clarissa’s divine green velvet party dress, to the delight of the audience.

The use of film, with Jen Heyes using “cine-theatre”, adds a very different dimension to this production and we marvel at seeing Green acting alongside herself on multiple occasions, playing another character on screen without missing a beat.

Photo: Andrew AB

It is brilliant to see such innovative productions at Storyhouse, with the theatre partnering with CutToTheChase Productions and Harlow Playhouse, on this occasion. Mrs Dalloway is to embark on a UK tour including performances at Home in Manchester in September.

We give Mrs Dalloway ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

NB Mrs Dalloway was due to have run until the evening of Saturday 6 June but Storyhouse has announced that Saturday’s performances have been cancelled due to illness.